Globe had its 2nd-hottest October and year to date on record

https://www.noaa.gov/news/globe-had-its-2nd-hottest-october-and-year-to-date-on-record

November 18, 2019

Planet Earth continued to sweat in unrelenting heat last month making October 2019 the second-hottest October recorded, just behind 2015.

It was also the second-hottest year to date (January through October) on record for the globe. Continuing its melting trend, Arctic sea ice coverage shrank to its smallest size yet for October.

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The average global land and ocean surface temperature for October 2019 was 1.76 degrees F (0.98 of a degree C) above the 20th-century average and the second highest October temperature on record. This value was only 0.11 of a degree F (0.06 of a degree C) short of the record-warm October set in 2015.

The 10 warmest Octobers have occurred since 2003, with the five warmest Octobers occurring since 2015. October 2019 was also the 43rd consecutive October and the 418th consecutive month with temperatures — at least nominally — above the 20th-century average.

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Arctic sea ice coverage was the smallest ever recorded for October at 32.2 percent below the 1981–2010 average. The 10 smallest Arctic sea ice extents for October have occurred since 2007.

Warmth around the world: Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Caribbean and the Hawaiian Islands region experienced temperatures that ranked among the three highest on record for October.

The world’s average sea surface temperature ranked second-warmest ever recorded for the year to date — less than a 10th of a degree cooler than the record-warm sea surface temperature observed in 2016.


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