Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S): September 2019 equals record and underlines long-term warming trend
Global average temperatures for this September are on par with the previously warmest September 2016, making it the fourth month in a row to be close to or breaking a temperature record
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts on behalf of the European Union, today announces record temperatures for September on a global level, making it the fourth month in a row to be close to or breaking a temperature record.
Surface air temperature anomaly for September 2019 relative to the September average for the period 1981-2010. Data source: ERA5. Credit: ECMWF-Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S)
The last four months have been exceptionally warm on a global level, June 2019 being the warmest June on record, July the warmest month ever recorded in this data set and August 2019 settling for the second warmest August. September 2019 being on-par with record temperatures now act as reminder of the long-term warming trend.
Compared to the latest standard thirty-year climatological reference period, 1981-2010, September was about 0.57°C degrees above average. This is close to 1.2°C above the pre-industrial level as defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and about as warm as September 2016 (0.02°C warmer), the previous warmest September in this data record.
The difference of the average temperatures for September 2019 and September 2016 is very small, according to the C3S data, only 0.02°C. It being smaller than the typical difference between the values provided by the global temperature datasets of various institutions, both months will share the top spot together.
Regions with most markedly above average temperatures include central and eastern USA, the Mongolian plateau and parts of the Arctic. In Europe, temperatures were above average over most of the continent, especially in the south and south-east.
Below-average temperatures in Europe occurred over much of Norway and Sweden, and over the far east of the continent. Globally, much below average temperatures were only recorded in a few regions, including southwestern Russia and parts of Antarctica.
Jean-Noël Thépaut, Director of Copernicus ECMWF, comments: “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. With continued greenhouse gas emissions and the resulting impact on global temperatures, records will continue to be broken in the future.”
Monthly Climate Summaries from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S)
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) routinely publishes monthly climate bulletins reporting on the changes observed in global surface air temperature, sea ice and hydrological variables. All the reported findings are based on computer-generated analyses using billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the world.
More information about climate variables in September and climate updates of previous months as well as high-resolution graphics can be downloaded here: https://climate.copernicus.eu/climate-bulletins
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Björn Mogensen
Oxenstierna & Partners
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About Copernicus
Copernicus is the European Union’s flagship Earth observation programme. It delivers freely accessible operational data and information services which provide users with reliable and up-to-date information related to environmental issues.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) is implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) on behalf of the European Union. ECMWF also implements the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). ECMWF is an independent intergovernmental organisation, producing and disseminating numerical weather predictions to its 34 Member and Co-operating States.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service website can be found at https://climate.copernicus.eu/
The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service website can be found at http://atmosphere.copernicus.eu/
More information on Copernicus: www.copernicus.eu
The ECMWF website can be found at https://www.ecmwf.int/
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