Barry Eitel
October 19, 2016•Update: October 19, 2016
By Barry Eitel
SAN FRANCISCO
September broke a string of 16 consecutive warmest-ever months for the planet, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Tuesday, adding that 2016 will likely be the hottest year on record.
Last month was the second warmest September globally since recordkeeping began in 1880, with September 2015 holding onto the top spot by just .04 degrees Celsius (.07 degrees Fahrenheit). Every month since May 2015 to August 2016 broke heat records and, the 16-month streak of warmest-ever months was also a record.
“A few months after the end of one of the strongest El Ninos in at least the past half century, this month effectively snapped the 16-month streak of record warm monthly global temperatures,” NOAA said in its “State of the Climate” report.
The average land surface temperature across the planet was 1.29 degrees Celsius (2.32 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the 20th century average of 12 degrees Celsius (53.6 degrees Fahrenheit).
Though the news of a slight cooldown is somewhat welcomed by climate scientists, researchers at NOAA are not holding out much hope for the rest of the year. Even if the final three months of 2016 only match the 21st century average, this year would be the hottest ever on record. Currently, 2015 is the warmest ever, followed by 2014.
According to NOAA’s predictions, 2016 looks like it will be approximately 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) above the average yearly temperature of the late 19th century.
NOAA’s study was released on the same day a UN report estimated climate change could drive as many as 122 million people into poverty around the world by 2030. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization claimed that global warming presents a troubling threat to global food security.
In comparison, the coldest September globally on record was in 1912.
