Last month was Earth’s hottest September EVER, data reveals – and forecasters say 2023 is on track to be the warmest year on record

Last month was the warmest September on record, data shows – and forecasters say 2023 is on track to be the warmest year on record

Copernicus, the EU Climate Change Agency, said surface air temperatures averaged 16.38°C (61.4°F) last month.

This breaks the record of the previous warmest September – 2020 – by a wide margin of 0.5°C (0.9°F).

The average temperature in September was almost a full degree (0.93°C/1.67°F) above the average for the month 1991-2020.

But as we go back further, the gap widens, with September temperatures 1.4°C (2.5°F) higher than the average between 1850 and 1900.

The average surface air temperature was 16.38°C – 0.93°C above the 1991-2020 average for September and 0.5°C above the temperature of the previous warmest September, in 2020

Scientists said September was also 0.05°C (0.09°F) warmer than September 2016, the hottest calendar year on record.

The average sea surface temperature for September above 60°S–60°N reached 20.92 °C (69.6 °F), the highest ever recorded for September and the second highest of all months, after August 2023.

Climate change and the weather phenomenon known as El Nino are jointly responsible for driving up temperatures, Copernicus said.

Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), said: ‘The unprecedented temperatures for the time of year observed in September – after a record summer – have been record-breaking beyond measure.

‘This extreme month has given 2023 the dubious honor of first place – on track to become the hottest year and about 1.4°C above the pre-industrial average temperature.

‘Two months after COP28 (the UN Climate Conference), the sense of urgency for ambitious climate action has never been more crucial.’

For January through September 2023, the global average temperature for 2023 so far is 1.40°C higher than the pre-industrial average (1850-1900)

Last month, large parts of Indonesia were ravaged by haze and smog caused by massive forest fires

The Met Office reported earlier this week that September 2023 was the warmest on record in Britain, along with 2006.

Copernicus said that in addition to the high temperatures, the extent of Antarctic sea ice had retreated to a record low for the time of year, about nine percent below average.

Meanwhile, Arctic sea ice extent was at the fifth lowest level, 18 percent below average.

The summer of 2023 is already the hottest ever recorded worldwide. Scientists say that unless the remaining months of the year are exceptionally cold, 2023 will break the record for the warmest year on record.

While the warmest eight years on record have all been since 2015, Earth’s record cold year was 1904.