NASA records confirm September as hottest month ever

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September was either the world's hottest month ever recorded or close to it, depending upon whether you measure Earth's temperature on the ground or in the air, NASA said.

According to data that NASA released Sunday, the global average ground (or water-surface) temperature for September 2014 was 0.77 degrees Celsius, or 1.38 degrees Fahrenheit, above September's historical average for 1951-1980. NASA's monthly Global Land-Ocean Temperature Index shows each month's temperature anomalies (departure from the long-term average) going back to 1880, The Weather Channel reported.

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September was the second consecutive record-breaking warmest month, with August 2014 being the first to play that role.

According to Reporting Climate Science, September did not rank as the hottest month on record in satellite measurements of the global "lower troposphere," or lowest part of Earth's atmosphere.

Instead, September 2014 tied with September 2011 as the seventh warmest September in records dating back to December 1978, according to satellite data released by the University of Alabama in Huntsville.