NOAA announced on Tuesday that October was the warmest October in the 174-year global climate record, making it the fifth month in a row of record-warm global temperatures.
Scientists said the average global temperature for October was 2.41 degrees F above the 20th-century average of 57.1 degrees F, making the month the warmest October on record.
Last month was also the 536th consecutive month with global temperatures above the average global temperature of the 20th century. NOAA noted that the past 10 Octobers, from 2014 through 2023, were the warmest Octobers in NOAA’s global climate record.
Narrowing by continent, they added that Asia and South America had their warmest Octobers on record. Africa, Europe and North America had their second-warmest Octobers.
October is part of a series of months with high global temperatures. According to NOAA, the average global surface temperature from January through October is 2.03 degrees above the 20th-century average. This makes the year-to-date average global surface temperature the warmest on record.
Given this trend, there is a more than 99% chance that 2023 will rank as the warmest year on record for the world, according to NOAA.
In addition to warmer-than-average global temperatures, scientists also mentioned other notable climate events that occurred during October.
For example, the global sea ice extent or coverage was at its lowest for any October, NOAA said. This is primarily because of record-low sea ice in the Antarctic, which was 380,000 square miles less than the previous October record low set in 2016. In the Arctic, however, the sea ice extent for October was the seventh smallest in the satellite record.
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Other climate events of note were fifteen named tropical systems across the globe during October, compared to the 1991-2020 average of 12, according to NOAA. Nine reached at least Category 1 strength or sustained winds of 74 mph or higher, and seven reached Category 3 strength to become at least Category 3 storms or sustained winds of 111 mph or higher.