Last month was the warmest September on record globally, federal scientists reported Wednesday, making it the latest month to break its historic temperature mark during 2015.
The average global surface temperature was 60.62 degrees Fahrenheit in September, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or 1.62 degrees warmer than the 20th century average.
{mosads}September’s new mark tops the one set last year, NOAA said in a post about the milestone. It was the warmest September since record-keeping began in 1880, and it represented the highest departure from average for any month since then.
September was the fifth straight month to break its high temperature mark this year, NOAA said.
The first nine months of 2015 were the warmest since 1880, raising the probability that 2015 will set a new mark for hottest year on record. Last month, NOAA scientists wrote that it would take “a remarkable and abrupt reversal” in temperatures to keep 2015 from breaking that record.
Land temperatures were 2.09 degrees higher than average in September, according to NOAA, and the warmth was especially pronounced in parts of Canada, western Russia and the United States, which experienced its second-warmest September on record.
NOAA blamed a strong El Nino in the Pacific Ocean for pushing up global sea surface temperatures, which were 1.46 degrees above the 20th century average.