2014 on track to be hottest year on record, says US science agency

The world is on course for this to be the hottest year ever, with global land and sea temperatures for September the highest ever recorded for the month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Monday.

The findings, which confirm September as the warmest such month on record, continue a string of record-beating months for global temperature.

The year to date for 2014 is already tied with 1998 as the warmest such period since record keeping began in 1880, Noaa scientists said.

Combined land and sea average surface temperatures registered 0.68°C above the 20th century average of 14.1C, Noaa said. That ties with 1998 and 2010 as the warmest period on record.

And those records too are close to falling. “If 2014 maintains this temperature departure from average for the remainder of the year, it will be the warmest year on record,” Noaa said in a statement.

All of the world’s top 10 warmest years have occurred since 2000. Climate studies have shown the world is poised for more warmth as the amounts of carbon dioxide rise. Last month, figures revealed carbon dioxide levels rose by the highest amount in 30 years in 2013.

Noaa has recorded above-average global temperatures for each September in the last 38 years. The last September with below 20th century average temperatures occurred in 1976, Noaa said.

The government agency said the temperatures were driven by warming oceans.

Australia also had hotter day time temperatures, with western Australia breaking its previous records. Britain also had its fourth warmest September since records began a century ago, with temperatures 1.2°C above the long-term average.