September was fifth straight month to have record warm temperatures

Scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said last month was the warmest September since records began being kept in 1880, Gayathri Vaidyanathan reports for ClimateWire. September was also the fifth straight month to have record warm temperatures. The Tokyo Climate Center found the past month to be the warmest September on record, while NASA found it to be the second-warmest month. The centers use differing analyses to arrive at their results. It was also the second warmest September in the U.S.

NOAA scientists said September "deviated from the 20th-century average by 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit, the largest such monthly deviation recorded," Vaidyanathan writes. "The oceans, which are experiencing a strong El Niño, were 1.42 F above average in September. NOAA noted that the last time a strong El Niño occurred in 1997, ocean temperatures were 0.45 F lower than they are now." (NOAA map)