The World Meteorological Organisation, WMO, has announced that Antarctic sea ice levels are at their lowest since early last month, the warmest June on record, at 17% below average. "We are used to seeing large-scale reductions in Arctic sea ice, but this is not the case for Antarctica," Michael Sparrow, leader of the World Climate Research Programme, told reporters in an interview in Genoa. This is a very serious loss." Stating that global sea temperatures broke a record in May and June of the year, WMO announced that the rate of warming on ocean surfaces is gradually increasing.