September Was Hottest on the Record Books

Posted: October 20, 2023 9:00 am

There may be the chill of fall in the air throughout the Northern Hemisphere but the memory of summer is still alive and well thanks to an unprecedented warm September. The latest data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service was released this week, confirming that September was the hottest on record. Here is what the data demonstrates.

September Heat Confirmed by Climate Agency

September of 2023 marked the fourth straight month of record heat in the Northern Hemisphere, putting the year well on track to become the hottest year in recorded history. The ninth month of the year beat the previous record from 2020 by a whopping 0.5 degrees. These records began in 1940, speaking to the rarity of a month of September this warm.

How warm was it? The average global air temperature came in at 16.38 degrees Celsius. This translated to an increase of 0.93 degrees Celsius hotter than the average between 1991 and 2020 as well as 1.75 degrees Celsius warmer than the norm for September for the pre-industrial era.

These readings are also significantly higher than the 1.5 degrees Celsius benchmark designated by the Paris Climate Agreement to mitigate global warming. Although this climate agreement looks at the year as a whole, one month with abnormally high temperatures can easily throw off the goals for all 12 months.

Month Brought a Number of Record Extremes

The weather headlines for September were not just about the extreme heat. The month also was distinguished for its tragic flooding event that killed thousands of people in Libya and several more in Turkey, Bulgaria, and Greece.

Over on the other side of the world, Canada was in the grips of a historic wildfire season. Meanwhile, South America was grappling with record-breaking heat.

The ocean temperatures also soared to extreme levels in September. The average sea surface temperatures across the globe hit 20.92 degrees Celsius, good enough for the highest on record for September. Climatologists blame increasing ocean temperatures for a boost in tropical weather activity.

Conversely, the average temperature of the sea ice in the Antarctic dropped to record lows for this time of the year. This is another sign that overall climate patterns are out of whack.

The arrival of October has provided little relief for many parts of the world, particularly across Europe. Spain, France, Austria, and Poland have already set new records for October. This surge in heat makes it nearly a certainty that 2023 will go down as the hottest year on record. In fact, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) gives this a 93% chance of happening.

What is Causing This Heat?

There are a number of factors that are influencing this surge of heat. In addition to the natural effects of global warming, the heat is also being impacted by the onset of El Niño, the cyclical climate pattern that sets up in the tropical Pacific Ocean and influences weather around the world.

The United Nations is hosting a climate summit in December in Dubai to assess recent climate goals and what type of progress has been made. Unfortunately, the latest data suggests that these goals are not being met. Climate experts hope that the recent revelation about September’s soaring temperatures will serve as a warning ahead of this summit, spurring lawmakers to mark new changes to how they are going to combat the climate crisis on a global scale.

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