Last month was the second hottest September on RECORD: Average global temperatures hit 16.17°C - and...
Last month was the second-hottest September on record, The global average air temperature for September 2024 was 61.1F (16.17C), which is 1.31F (0.73C) above the September average. What's more, it's just shy of 61.4F (16.38C). Worryingly, experts point to human-cased greenhouse gas emissions as the cause for this latest temperature 'anomaly'. According to the EU's Copernicus Service (C3S) which is based in Bonn, Germany September 2024 was 2.77F (1.54C) above the September average for 1850-1900. This is the designated 'pre-industrial' reference period to which modern temperatures are compared. 'September 2024 was the second warmest both globally and for Europe,' said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of C3S. According to Ms Burgess, warmer air temperatures around the world resulted in unusually wet weather in September 2024. Meteorologists already know that warmer air can hold more moisture, meaning more intense rainfall and flooding. 'The extreme rainfall events of this month, something we are observing more and more often, have been made worse by a warmer atmosphere, leading to more intense rainfall with months worth of rain falling in just a few days,' Ms Burgess said. 'The risk of extreme rainfall will continue to increase with rising temperatures; the sooner we reach net zero emissions, the sooner we can mitigate this risk.' C3S, managed by the European Commission, looks at temperature readings based on a variety of platforms and instruments, from weather stations to weather balloons and satellites. The department's readings refer to the average air temperature for the whole planet over the whole year so lower than a single typically 'hot' temperature reading. Several months in 2024 have broken records, becoming the hottest ever for that particular month namely , , , , and . But July 2024 wasn't quite as hot as the record-holder for July, . August 2024, meanwhile, was the joint-warmest August globally (together with August 2023). While this September was not quite as hot as last year's, C3S is still concerned of an ongoing warming trend that's pushing up the global average. Looking at Europe individually, temperatures last month were 3.13F (1.74C) above the 1991-2020 average for September. Last month was the second-warmest September on record for Europe after September 2023, which was 4.51F (2.51C) above average. European temperatures were most above average over eastern and northeastern Europe, but below average in a large part of western Europe, including France, most of the Iberian Peninsula, and Iceland. Just like the rest of the world, September 2024 saw much of Europe experiencing above-average rain. , floods and associated damage in the middle of the month over Central and Eastern Europe. Outside of Europe, temperatures were most above average over Canada, the central and western United States, South America, northeast Africa, China, and Japan. C3S also revealed that the the global average sea surface temperature (another metric that measures heat close to the ocean's surface) was 20.83C last month, the second-highest value on record for the month (after September 2023). Meanwhile, in the UK, September saw 'unsettled weather' across the UK namely 'variable temperatures and persistent showers', according to the Met Office. 'The month began on a warm note, with above average temperatures across the UK persisting for the first week as successive plumes of warm, humid air were drawn northwards off continental Europe,' it says in its climate summery. 'However, by the 11th, the temperatures dropped as Arctic air moved in.' It was the wettest September on record for some UK counties, including Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire, according to provisional Met Office figures although no national monthly records were broken.