This Past September Ranks As Hottest On Record, NOAA Says

By Eyder Peralta

Published October 20, 2014 at 5:03 PM CDT

Four months in 2014 have already been the warmest on record.

This past September was, on average, the hottest on record, meteorologists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday.

The combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces was 60.3 degrees Fahrenheit, or 1.30 F hotter than the century average.

The AP reports:

"It was the fourth monthly record set this year, along with May, June and August.

"NASA, which measures temperatures slightly differently, had already determined that September was record-warm.

"The first nine months of 2014 have a global average temperature of 58.72 degrees (14.78 degrees Celsius), tying with 1998 for the warmest first nine months on record, according to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.

" 'It's pretty likely' that 2014 will break the record for hottest year, said NOAA climate scientist Jessica Blunden."

NOAA has put together this nifty chart that gives you an overlook of 2014 so far; you'll see a lot of records have fallen:

USA Today quotes University of Illinois climate scientist Donald Wuebbles saying:

"This is one of many indicators that climate change has not stopped and that it continues to be one of the most important issues facing humanity."