Last month was hottest November on record

Last month was the hottest November on record, federal researchers announced on Thursday, and 2015 is a near lock to break the annual temperature record. 

The average global surface temperature in November was 56.95 degrees Fahrenheit, or 1.75 degrees above the 20th century average. That topped the record previously set by November 2013, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Thursday.

{mosads}November became the seventh month in a row to break its temperature record in 2015, and the ninth overall this year. The other two months, January and April, were both among the top-three warmest on record. 

In its monthly temperature report, NOAA projected that 2015 will become the hottest year on record unless temperatures drop dramatically in December. The year is 0.25 degrees warmer than the record set last year, and surface temperatures in December would have to be at least 1.46 degrees below average in December to avoid topping the charts.

Federal recordkeeping goes back 136 years.

According to the report, land surface temperatures in November were the fifth highest on record for the month. Temperatures at the ocean surface broke their record by 0.20 degrees, something NOAA attributed to a strong El Niño in the Pacific Ocean that is expected to persist into next year.

Much of the United States was warmer than average, the report said, though the western edge of North America was cooler than average. 

But, according to the report, “no regions [on Earth] were record cold in November.”