The September 2020 globally averaged temperature departure from average over land and ocean surfaces was the highest for that month in the 141-year NOAA global temperature dataset record, which dates back to 1880.
In simpler terms, scientists at NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI), are saying that unprecedented heat around the world vaulted the ninth month of 2020 to the hottest September since the earliest recording of climate data.
September 2020 marked the 44th consecutive September and the 429th consecutive month with temperatures, at least nominally, above the 20th-century average.
The 10 warmest Septembers have all occurred since 2005. The seven warmest Septembers have occurred in the last seven years (2014-2020).
The Southern Hemisphere’s land and ocean surface temperature departure from average for September 2020 was the highest on record at 1.26°F (0.70°C) above average, surpassing the previous record set in September 2015, 2017, and 2018 by 0.02°F (0.01°C). Meanwhile, the Northern Hemisphere had its third-warmest September on record with a combined land and ocean surface temperature departure from average of 2.18°F (1.21°C).
Europe had its warmest September on record with a temperature departure from average of +4.19°F (+2.33°C). This exceeded the previous record set in 2018 by 0.40°F (0.22°C). South America, Asia and Oceania had their second-warmest September on record.
Warmer-than-average temperatures were present across much of the globe during September 2020, with the most notable warm temperature departures from average across parts of the North Pacific Ocean, southwestern Canada, the western contiguous U.S., South America, Europe, northern and southeastern Asia, Australia and Antarctica, where temperatures were at least 2.7°F (1.5°C) above average. Cooler-than-average conditions were limited to parts of Greenland and surrounding Atlantic Ocean, eastern Canada, the eastern U.S., the tropical eastern and central Pacific Ocean, the southern Indian Ocean and the western part of Asia and northern Africa.
With 3 months remaining in the year, 2020 could rank among the top 3 warmest on record for the entire globe.
More information:
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/global-climate-202009
https://earthsky.org/earth/2020-hottest-september-on-record
Rod is a blogger, writer, filmmaker, photographer, daydreamer who likes to cook. Rod produces and directs the web series, CUPIC: Diary of an Investigator. He is also the editor, producer and administrator of STM Daily News, a part of the TNC Network.
