October was sixth straight month to have record high temperatures; 2014 could be warmest year ever

October was the sixth consecutive month of global record high temperatures since records began being kept in 1880, says the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The past five months—May, June, July, August and September—were the hottest months on record for those respective months. The first 10 months of 2014 have been the warmest on record.

"It also marked the 38th consecutive October with a global temperature above the 20th century average," says NOAA. "The last below-average global temperature for October occurred in 1976."

For October, the combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces was 1.33 degrees warmer than the 20th century average of 57.1 degrees, NOAA says. The global land surface temperature was 1.89 degrees above the 20th century average, and the global sea surface temperature was 1.12 degrees above the 20th century average of 60.6 degrees. The combined global land and ocean average surface temperature through October of 2014 was 1.22 degrees above the 20th century average of 57.4 degrees. (Read more) (NOAA graphic)