A report released Friday by Copernicus found that September was 0.57 degrees Celsius warmer than the 1981-2010 average. In addition, the temperatures across most of Europe were above average, particularly in the south and south-east of the continent.
Much of Norway and Sweden experienced below-average temperatures. Meanwhile, temperatures over most of the US, parts of the Arctic and Iran, Afghanistan, Mongolia, northern China, central South America, South Africa, south-western Australia and West Antarctica were all above the 1981-2010 average.
“Temperatures over land were notably below average only over south-western Russia, the Central Asian Republics and parts of Antarctica, although several other regions experienced temperatures that were slightly below average for the month,” the report adds.
And September was not an anomaly.
June and July this year were the warmest ever in recorded history, while 2019’s August was the second-hottest August ever recorded.
Copernicus Climate Change Service Director Jean-Noel Thepaut painted a bleak picture of the future, as greenhouse gas emissions continue to plague the environment.
"The recent series of record-breaking temperatures is an alarming reminder of the long-term warming trend that can be observed on a global level," Thepaut said in a statement to AFP.
"With continued greenhouse gas emissions and the resulting impact on global temperatures, records will continue to be broken in the future," he added.
A September report by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) revealed that the Northern Hemisphere experienced its hottest summer on record between June and August this year. The report also noted that the global average sea surface temperature in August was 1.51 degrees Fahrenheit higher than the “20th-century monthly average of 61.4 degrees Fahrenheit,” marking the highest sea surface temperature ever recorded in the month of August. Arctic sea ice coverage in August was also found to be 30.1% lower than average.
