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Earth headed for warmest year on record: US meteorologists

October 21, 2014

Earth this year reached the hottest average temperature for September since record keeping began 135 years ago, according to US meteorologists. The planet is on course for the warmest year on record.

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Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Global temperatures averaged 15.7 degrees Celsius (60.3 Fahrenheit) in September, the fourth monthly heat record broken in 2014, according to figures published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on Monday.

Temperatures on land were generally warmer than normal for September. The only exceptions were central Russia, some areas in eastern and northeastern Canada and a small region in Namibia.

Meanwhile, the Earth's sea surface surpassed the average 20th century temperature for September by 0.66 degrees Celsius (1.19 Fahrenheit), the largest deviation on record.

US meteorologists also measured the hottest average global temperatures on record for the months of May, June and August of this year.

With the first nine months of 2014 averaging 14.7 degrees Celsius (58.72 Fahrenheit), this year is poised to go down as the hottest on record, according to the NOAA's National Climatic Data Center.

Previously, the NOAA measured record-breaking yearly average temperatures in 1995, 1997, 1998, 2005 and 2010.

slk/lw (AP, AFP)