Credit International Space Station...Hurricane Florence.
September 2018 and year to date were 4th hottest on record for the globe according to the latest analysis by scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.
In fact, the 10 warmest September global land and ocean surface temperatures have occurred since 2003 with the last five Septembers (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018) ranking as the five warmest on record.
- September 2018 was the month when NASA released videos of bubbling lakes in the remote Arctic tundra, where warming continues to release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at unprecedented rates. Full story
- It was the month when two million people were evacuated as Mr Trump tweeted that Florence was "one of the worst storms to hit the East Coast in many years", with the cat 5 hurricane packing winds of 140 miles per hour (220 kph). Full story
- It was the month a storm surge four storeys high with wind gusts 330 kmh (an incredible 205mh) as Super Typhoon Mangkhut, the biggest storm this year slammed into the northern Philippines. Full story
- The Vavilov Ice Cap in the Russian High Arctic was found to be collapsing at a fantastic 82 feet a day and it's getting worse. Full story
- It was also the month when an astonishing, jaw-dropping! THOUSANDS OF TONS (MILLIONS MAYBE BILLIONS) of Marine species were washing up dead along the entire Florida west coast. Full story
- Japan prepared for its 3rd powerful typhoon in just three months as Typhoon Trami aimed for the mainland. Full story
- It was the month when at 75,975 times higher than the safe 25 micrograms a lake in New York State smashes algae bloom toxicity record: "When the water was more solid than liquid". Full story
- It was the month when a very rare Mediterranean hurricane called a "Medicane" dumped a month's rain on parts of Greece in just a couple of hours. Full story
Polar sea ice coverage remains at near-record lows
October 17, 2018 Warmth continued its steady march across the world last month, making for the fourth hottest September on record for the globe and the fourth warmest year to date, according to the latest analysis by scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.
In fact, the 10 warmest September global land and ocean surface temperatures have occurred since 2003 with the last five Septembers (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018) ranking as the five warmest on record.
Let’s take a closer look at highlights from our most recent report:
Climate by the numbers
September 2018
The average global temperature in September was 1.40 degrees F above the 20th-century average of 59 degrees. This was the fourth highest global temperature (tied with 2017) for September in the 139-year record (1880-2018). Last month was also the 42nd consecutive September and the 405th consecutive month with temperatures above average.
The year to date // January through September
The year-to-date average global temperature was 1.39 degrees F above the average of 57.5 degrees. This is the fourth highest on record for the January-through-September period (YTD) and 0.43 of a degree lower than the record high set in 2016 for the same period.
More notable climate facts and stats
- Land and seas warming continued: The globally averaged land-surface temperature was the sixth highest on record for September and the fourth highest for the YTD period. The globally averaged sea-surface temperature was fourth highest on record for September and fourth highest for the YTD.
- Record-warm continents: Parts of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia experienced record warmth. Temperatures were at least 3.6 degrees F above average across southern South America, Alaska, the southwestern and eastern U.S., much of Europe, the Middle East and parts of Russia.
- Sea ice coverage remained smaller than average at the poles: The average Arctic sea ice coverage (extent) in September was 26.5 per cent below the 1981-2010 average, the seventh-smallest extent for September on record. The Antarctic sea ice extent last month was 3.3 per cent below average, the second smallest for September on record.
