Global temperatures soared to a new record in September by a huge margin, stunning scientists and leading one to describe it as “absolutely gobsmackingly bananas”.
As Damian Carrington reports for The Guardian, the hottest September on record follows the hottest August and hottest July, with the latter being the hottest month ever recorded. The high temperatures have driven heatwaves and wildfires across the world.
September 2023 beat the previous record for that month by 0.5C, the largest jump in temperature ever seen. September was about 1.8C warmer than pre-industrial levels. Datasets from European and Japanese scientists confirm the leap.
“September was, in my professional opinion as a climate scientist, absolutely gobsmackingly bananas,” said Zeke Hausfather, at the Berkeley Earth climate data project. While human-caused global heating and El Niño are the biggest factors causing the record-breaking temperatures, other factors may be contributing small increases as well, Hausfather said.
The UK saw its joint hottest September on record, the Met Office reported, in data that goes back to 1884. In Australia, climate scientist and author Joelle Gergis said: “Observations of Australia’s climate in September are shocking…”
Source: The Guardian. Read the full story here
Photo: Credit Patrick Perkins on Unsplash
