Rome, Jul 8 (IANS): June 2023 has surpassed the previous temperature record for the month -- which was in 2019 -- by a substantial margin, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Temperatures in June were 0.5 degrees Celsius higher than the average for the same month between 1991 and 2020, Xinhua news agency quoted the service as saying.

"Climate events that used to be seen as extraordinary are now happening regularly," said Mariagrazia Midulla, head of the climate and energy section for WWF in Italy, a country that had to endure extreme weather events over the last year.

"This trend is frightening and the indications are that it will continue," Midulla told Xinhua.

She expects more frequent occurrences of heat waves, droughts and floods, and gradually rising sea levels, which will negatively impact the global economy and societies.

The high temperatures this year are due to a confluence of factors beyond the gradual increase in greenhouse gases, including the emergence of the El Nino weather pattern.

"With El Nino amplifying the impacts of climate change over the next several months, we can expect to see more records for global temperatures surpassed," said Joeri Rogelj, professor of climate science at the Grantham Institute.

"But even without the El Nino, the temperature trend would be extremely worrying."