WASHINGTON: Last month was the hottest September since record keeping began in 1880, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) said.
Average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces combined for the month was at 15.72 degrees Celsius — 0.72 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average, Xinhua news agency reported.
“With the exception of February, every month to date in 2014 has been among its four warmest on record with May, June, August and September all record warm,” NOAA said in a report.
It also marked the 38th consecutive September with a global temperature above the 20th century average. The last below-average global temperature for September occurred in 1976.
Warmer-than-average temperatures were evident over most of the global land surface except for central Russia, some areas in eastern and northern Canada and a small region in Namibia.
Record warmth was notable in much of northwestern Africa, coastal regions of southeastern South America, southwestern Australia, parts of Middle East and regions of southeastern Asia.
The combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces for January-September tied with 1998 as the warmest such period on record at 0.68 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average of 14.1 degrees Celsius.
“If 2014 maintains this temperature departure from average for the remainder of the year, it will be the warmest year on record,” NOAA said. –BERNAMA