Off the Charts: October’s global warmth is unprecedented
The 2015 global temperature hits just keep on comin'.
NASA and NOAA report that October 2015 was the warmest October on record globally and the most unusually warm month ever recorded when compared to average.
October 2015 now ranks No. 1 out of 1,630 months in the NOAA global temperature departure data set. A stunning seven months of 2015 are among the 10 highest monthly temperature departures, and every month in 2015 is among the 25 highest.
Some additional details on October's record warmth from NOAA.
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The combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces for October 2015 was the highest for October in the 136-year period of record, at 0.98°C (1.76°F) above the 20th century average of 14.0°C (57.1°F). This marked the sixth consecutive month a monthly global temperature record has been broken and was also the greatest departure from average for any month in the 1630 months of record keeping, surpassing the previous record high departure set just last month by 0.13°F (0.07°C). The October temperature is currently increasing at an average rate of 0.06°C (0.11°F) per decade.
2015: A 99.9% chance to be the warmest year on record globally
The record October warmth virtually assures 2015 will be the next new warmest year on record globally. That's the analysis from Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
Compared to the six warmest years on record, 2015 is notably expected to finish well ahead of the previous "record warmest" years.
Geographically, most regions of the globe are tracking well above normal this year. Many areas are recording near record conditions, the hottest years ever recorded blow in deep red in this NOAA analysis. The only notable cool spots this year are in northeast Canada and the North Atlantic regions.
Global temperature trends show a strong upswing in the past several years. Thirteen of the 15 hottest years on record globally have all occurred since 2000. The 10 warmest years on record globally have all occurred since 1998.
The last record cold year globally was 1911. The last cooler than average year globally was 1976.