Just like 2020’s January and May, September hottest on record

First it was January, then May, and now September.

New data by the European Union’s Earth Observation Programme showed on Wednesday that last month was the world’s hottest September on record, with unusually high temperatures recorded off Siberia, in the Middle East and in parts of South America and Australia.

First it was January, then May, and now September.

New data by the European Union’s Earth Observation Programme showed on Wednesday that last month was the world’s hottest September on record, with unusually high temperatures recorded off Siberia, in the Middle East and in parts of South America and Australia.Extending a long-term warming trend caused by emissions of heat-trapping gases, high temperatures this year have played a major role in disasters from fires in California and the Arctic to floods in Asia, scientists say.

Since the late 1970s, the global thermometer has crept up 0.2 degrees Celcius every decade, according to EU data.

Under the landmark Paris climate agreement signed in 2015, countries agreed to attempt to cap warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius (34.7 Fahrenheit), which scientists say would avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change.

But even though large emitters, including China and EU nations, have pledged to slash their emissions in the coming decades, overall, current policies would see temperatures rise far beyond the 1.5 degree level.

“The Earth has warmed a lot, and it will carry on warming if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the rate they are at the moment,” Vamborg said.