Updated 03:00 | Published at 2:36 am
The surface water temperature in the North Atlantic has set a new heat record, according to preliminary data published by the US weather agency NOAA.
According to the authority, which has been recording sea temperatures since the early 1980s, the surface water reached a record high average temperature of 24.9 degrees on Wednesday.
The record is particularly noteworthy because it comes early in the year. Normally, the North Atlantic reaches its highest temperature in early September.
The previous record of 24.89 degrees was recorded last September, according to NOAA researcher Xungang Yin.
The surface water temperature in the North Atlantic is also expected to continue to rise during August and Xungang Yin says it is “very likely” that the record will be broken again.
According to Xungang Yin, 24.9 degrees is more than one degree warmer than during the 30-year climatological normal period counted from 1982 to 2011.