Advertising Read more

Paris (AFP)

Last month was the equal hottest September in history, the European Union's satellite monitoring service said Friday, the fourth month in a row with near- or record-breaking temperatures.

The Copernicus Climate Service said September 2019 was 0.57 Celsius hotter than the historical average -- on a par with September 2016.

Last month was in fact very slightly warmer (0.02 C) than September but the service said they were treating both as joint record-holders.

The data continues Earth's hot streak, with June being the warmest June ever, July the warmest month in recorded history. August was the second hottest August since records began.

Copernicus said its data was further evidence of our planet's "long-term warming trend".

The service, which uses satellite imaging to observe ground-based climate trends, said it had registered significantly hotter than average months for the central and eastern United States, the Mongolian plateau and parts of the Arctic.

Temperatures in Europe were lower than the September average, as they were in southwestern parts of Russia and parts of Antarctica.

Yet the overall trend is hotter, according to Copernicus Director Jean-Noel Thepaut.

"The recent series of record-breaking temperatures is an alarming reminder of the long-term warming trend that can be observed on a global level," Thepaut said.

"With continued greenhouse gas emissions and the resulting impact on global temperatures, records will continue to be broken in the future."

Earth has warmed a little over 1 C since pre-industrial times and manmade emissions -- as well as atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases -- are rising annually.

Several peer-reviewed studies released this year showed that Earth had never in human history warmed so rapidly and uniformly as currently.

© 2019 AFP