Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Earth Breaks September Heat Record, May Reach Warmest Year
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
October 15, 2020

Share

Earth sweltered to a record hot September last month, with U.S. climate officials saying there’s nearly a two-to-one chance that 2020 will end up as the globe’s hottest year on record.

Boosted by human-caused climate change, global temperatures averaged 60.75 degrees (15.97 Celsius) last month, edging out 2015 and 2016 for the hottest September in 141 years of recordkeeping, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Wednesday. That’s 1.75 degrees (0.97 degrees Celsius) above the 20th century average.

This record was driven by high heat in Europe, Northern Asia, Russia and much of the Southern Hemisphere, said NOAA climatologist Ahira Sanchez-Lugo. California and Oregon had their hottest Septembers on record.

Earth has had 44 straight Septembers where it has been warmer than the 20th century average and 429 straight months without a cooler than normal month, according to NOAA. The hottest seven Septembers on record have been the last seven.

That means “that no millennial or even parts of Gen-X has lived through a cooler than normal September,” said North Carolina state climatologist Kathie Dello, herself a millennial.

The Globe Set This Record Despite a La Nina

What’s happening is a combination of global warming from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas and natural variability, Sanchez-Lugo said. But the biggest factor is the human-caused warming, she and Dello said.

The globe set this record despite a La Nina, which is a cooling of parts of the central Pacific that changes weather patterns and usually slightly lowers temperatures.

“A La Nina is no match for how much we’re warming the planet,” Dello said.

The first nine months of 2020 are the second warmest on record, a shade behind 2016 when there was a strong warming El Nino. But Sanchez-Lugo said her office’s calculations show that there’s a 64.7% chance that 2020 will pass 2016 in the last three months to take the title as the warmest year on record. And if it doesn’t make it, she said it’ll easily be in the top three, probably top two.

“We’re catching up” to 2016, Sanchez-Lugo said. “It’s a very tight race.”

With the climate trend, heat records that looked like it would take many years to break get passed quicker, said Colorado University weather data scientist Sam Lillo.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Senate Rebukes Trump’s Tariffs as Some Republicans Vote to Halt Taxes on Canadian Imports

DON'T MISS

Supreme Court Sides With the FDA in Its Dispute Over Sweet-Flavored Vaping Products

DON'T MISS

Trump Announces Sweeping New Tariffs to Promote US Manufacturing, Risking Inflation and Trade Wars

DON'T MISS

Fresno Firefighters Save Dog From Canal and Now She’s Ready for Adoption

DON'T MISS

Big Brands Spend Just Enough on X to Avoid Musk’s ‘Naughty List’

DON'T MISS

Judge Dismisses Corruption Case Against New York City Mayor Eric Adams

DON'T MISS

State Center Trustees Render Split Decision on Future of PLAs

DON'T MISS

California’s Schools Chief Has a $200,000 Salary and a Side Gig

DON'T MISS

Why Project Labor Agreements Are Good for Our Schools and Students: Opinion

DON'T MISS

Trump Proposes Tax Deduction for Auto Loan Interest on US-Made Cars

UP NEXT

Trump Proposes Tax Deduction for Auto Loan Interest on US-Made Cars

UP NEXT

Western US Sees Sharp Increase in Extreme Weather Impact

UP NEXT

7-Year-Old Girl Was Killed by a Falling Boulder at a Lake Tahoe Ski Resort

UP NEXT

Xavier Becerra Enters 2026 California Governor’s Race

UP NEXT

Inside a $17 Billion Maintenance Backlog Plaguing California’s Universities

UP NEXT

California Lawmakers Reject Bills to Restrict Transgender Youth in School Sports

UP NEXT

Elon Musk Reclaims Top Spot on Forbes’ Billionaires List

UP NEXT

California Just Blew Its First Deadline for Voter-Approved Healthcare Measure

UP NEXT

Lakers Hold Off Rockets With 6 3-Pointers Apiece From Dorian Finney-Smith, Gabe Vincent

UP NEXT

Athletics Bat Boy Stewart Thalblum Takes Down Drone in Left Field

Fresno Firefighters Save Dog From Canal and Now She’s Ready for Adoption

6 hours ago

Big Brands Spend Just Enough on X to Avoid Musk’s ‘Naughty List’

6 hours ago

Judge Dismisses Corruption Case Against New York City Mayor Eric Adams

6 hours ago

State Center Trustees Render Split Decision on Future of PLAs

6 hours ago

California’s Schools Chief Has a $200,000 Salary and a Side Gig

7 hours ago

Why Project Labor Agreements Are Good for Our Schools and Students: Opinion

7 hours ago

Trump Proposes Tax Deduction for Auto Loan Interest on US-Made Cars

8 hours ago

Western US Sees Sharp Increase in Extreme Weather Impact

8 hours ago

Amazon Said to Make a Bid to Buy TikTok in the US

8 hours ago

Fresno Man Found Dead, Coroner’s Office Seeks Help Finding Family

8 hours ago

Senate Rebukes Trump’s Tariffs as Some Republicans Vote to Halt Taxes on Canadian Imports

WASHINGTON — The Senate passed a resolution Wednesday night that would thwart President Donald Trump’s ability to impose tariffs on Canada, ...

57 minutes ago

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., center, is joined from left by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., as they speak to reporters about President Donald Trump's tariffs on foreign countries, at the Capitol, in Washington, Wednesday, April 2, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
57 minutes ago

Senate Rebukes Trump’s Tariffs as Some Republicans Vote to Halt Taxes on Canadian Imports

5 hours ago

Supreme Court Sides With the FDA in Its Dispute Over Sweet-Flavored Vaping Products

5 hours ago

Trump Announces Sweeping New Tariffs to Promote US Manufacturing, Risking Inflation and Trade Wars

A young Labrador mix rescued from a Fresno canal on Sunday, March 2, 2025, is thriving in a foster home after overcoming fear and trauma. (Instagram/Fresno Animal Center)
6 hours ago

Fresno Firefighters Save Dog From Canal and Now She’s Ready for Adoption

6 hours ago

Big Brands Spend Just Enough on X to Avoid Musk’s ‘Naughty List’

6 hours ago

Judge Dismisses Corruption Case Against New York City Mayor Eric Adams

6 hours ago

State Center Trustees Render Split Decision on Future of PLAs

7 hours ago

California’s Schools Chief Has a $200,000 Salary and a Side Gig

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend