Global warmth in September was far higher than it has ever been in the month, according to early analyses obtained by the Washington Post—continuing this year’s trend of broken heat record after broken heat record.
Vehicles are viewed above a 'highway mirage' caused by a thin layer of hot air above the roadway on ... [+]
Data analyses obtained by the Washington Post from European and Japanese climate scientists show that Earth’s average temperature in September surpassed the month’s previous record by 0.9 degrees Fahrenheit—the largest monthly margin observed, the Post reported.
Analysts from Europe and Japan reported separately that last month’s temperatures were—across the globe—closer to normal temperatures for July than September.
Some European countries including Austria, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland all saw their hottest Septembers to date last month, the Guardian reported, and temperatures are likely to stay high into this month.
September’s record-breaking heat followed Earth’s hottest three-month period ever, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
“This month was, in my professional opinion as a climate scientist – absolutely gobsmackingly bananas,” Zeke Hausfather wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Hausfather, the climate lead for Stripe and a scientist at Berkeley Earth, said the month was about 1.8 degrees Celsius warmer than it was prior to industrialization.
1.6. That’s how many degrees Farenheit last month’s average temperature was higher than temperatures were from 1991 to 2020, per the Post.
More than 6,500 daily heat records were broken in the U.S. this summer, and sea surface temperatures also broke records as water near Florida hit 100 degrees. Warming sea surface temperatures were also widely cited as a contributing factor to this year’s Atlantic hurricane season, causing rapid intensification of storms.