Climate change

Report: World's Oceans Experience Hottest June Ever

Is this a climate emergency demanding action or just normal variation in Earth's geological history?

Published JUL 1

Report: World's Oceans Experience Hottest June Ever

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Above: People swim in the sea at Bebek beach seeking relief from the hot weather in Istanbul on July 1. Image credit: Mustafa Mert Karaca/Anadolu/Getty Images

The Spin

Climate-concerned narrative

Ocean temperatures just shattered records that scientists already called terrifying, and the government's response is to greenlight more oil drilling. That's willful negligence in the face of a worsening crisis. Record-breaking heat in the oceans demands urgent action, not expanded fossil fuel extraction.

Adrian Ramsay on X

Climate-skeptic narrative

Earth's current temperatures are actually among the coldest in geological history — the planet has spent most of the last 541 million years running 5-10°C hotter than today. Orbital mechanics drive the big climate shifts, and humanity evolved entirely within an ice age. Calling today's baseline a planetary emergency ignores the deep geological record.

Peter Clack on X