ORONO, Maine — While many in Maine are enjoying the bit of sun this past week brought after a rainy June, researchers at The University of Maine say the record temperatures being seen around the globe may be a climate change warning sign.
State climatologist and professor Sean Birkel created the university's climate visualization tool, Climate Reanalyzer, back in 2012 and has been monitoring the data since the program's launch.
The program takes data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration daily.
According to data, the past couple of days have been the hottest in decades, with the global daily averages hitting around 61 degrees Fahrenheit this week.
While 61 may not seem hot, this data factors in temperatures from the entire planet.
This week also marked the first time the data set reached over 17 degrees Celsius since 1979 when the data first started to be recorded.
Birkel says these temperatures do fit a trend many scientists have been observing.
"There's an El Nino in the Pacific that's a contributing factor," Birkel said. "But this latest event is something that fits into the overall pattern that we've been observing towards a warming climate and we're going to be seeing more of these warm periods that do have real impacts."
Birkel also reminds folks that the data still needs to be confirmed by NOAA, as well as be studied to find the cause, before it can be confirmed as a part of a larger trend.
