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The world’s ocean surface temperature was the warmest on record for July, breaking the previous record set in 1998, reports NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center. At 62.56°F (16.99°C), ocean temperatures were 1.06°F (0.59°C) above the 20th century average.
The combined average global land and ocean surface temperature for July 2009 (61.43°F – 16.37°C) ranked as the fifth-warmest since recordkeeping began in 1880.
NOAA reports that El Niño conditions persisted across the equatorial Pacific Ocean during July 2009. Menawhile Arctic sea ice covered an average of 3.4 million square miles during July, 12.7 percent below the 1979-2000 average and the third lowest July sea ice extent on record, behind 2007 and 2006.