NOAA: September 2020 was hottest on record

This September was the hottest on record globally, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has found. 

The NOAA finding, announced Wednesday, puts the planet on track to have its second-hottest year on record based on year-to-date temperatures. 2016 is currently the hottest year.

September 2020 was 1.75 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than the 20th-century average of 59 degrees Fahrenheit, and 0.04 degrees hotter than the two next-warmest Septembers of 2015 and 2016.

The data falls in line with similar findings from the European Union’s climate change service, which also determined that this September was the hottest on record. 

According to NOAA, all seven of the warmest Septembers have occurred during the past seven years, and all 10 of the warmest Septembers have occurred since 2005. 

September 2020 was the 429th month in a row with temperatures that were “at least nominally,” above the 20th-century average.

Some of the most abnormally warm temperatures this September were in parts of the North Pacific Ocean, southwestern Canada, the western U.S., South America, Europe, northern and southeastern Asia, Australia and Antarctica.