Currently in Chicago — June 12, 2023: Cooler than average

Plus, what might be behind soaring Atlantic temps.

AuthorAuthor

Eric Holthaus & Tim McGill
June 11, 2023

The weather, currently.

Some sun on Monday but cooler than average.

Takeaways for Chicago's weather:

1. Warming Into 80s By Wednesday

2. Just Spotty Showers This Week

3. No Extreme Heat In Sight

We started June off with back-to-back days that had a high of 91 degrees. Much of this week will be around or even a bit below average. Sunny start to Monday then increasing clouds with a hit or miss shower possible late as highs hit the lower 70s. Mostly cloudy with a spotty shower possible Tuesday and highs again in the lower 80s. Warmer Wednesday with highs in the lower 80s under partly to mostly sunny skies with a slight chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Mostly sunny Thursday with highs in the upper 70s. A scattered shower possible Friday but plenty of sunshine most of the day with a high in the upper 70s. Cooler lakeside all week.

What you need to know, currently.

Global ocean temperatures are soaring and climate scientists aren’t really sure why.

For more than three months, the oceans have been warmer than ever before in the history of human recordkeeping. Right now, North Atlantic temperatures are about 35% higher than the previous record — a shockingly large amount that is further above the previous record than any other recordbreaking year in history.

These kinds of superlatives may be difficult to read and process. That’s not just true of casual observers, it’s true of the scientists who have devoted their lives to studying the Earth’s climate system. The Earth is officially in an El Niño now — a periodic warming of the Pacific Ocean that happens every 3-5 years — but that doesn’t necessarily explain why the Atlantic is so warm right now.

One still-controversial theory for this sudden warming has been put forth by the legendary James Hansen, the former NASA chief whose testimony to Congress back in 1988 first put global warming on the map. In 2020, new shipping regulations sharply limited sulfur pollution from ocean ships in the North Atlantic, and sulfate aerosol emissions — which have a planetary cooling effect — have fallen sharply since. If you run the numbers, as Hansen has, such a sharp reduction might partially explain the surge in Atlantic Ocean temps.

-Eric Holthaus

What you can do, currently.

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—Eric Holthaus