2014 appears to be on its track to becoming the warmest year in instrumental records as it is marked by record-breaking hot temperatures.
The Goddard Institute for Space Studies of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has revealed that September of this year is the warmest since 1880, the year when scientists started to track data on global temperatures.
The average global temperature for last month was 0.77°C above the historical average for September from 1951 to 1980, NASA reported in its Global Land-Ocean Temperature Index.
It isn't also just September with extraordinarily hot temperature. August and May were also the warmest on record, according to NASA, but September 2014 is the second month in a row to have record-breaking heat.
The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is set to release its independent calculation on how the weather in September fared. NOAA's calculations may differ from that of NASA but both have data showing a trend that the Earth is warming.
NCDC's record of global temperatures shows that the last five months prior to September had record-setting if not above-average temperatures. April, May, June and August of this year were hottest on record marked by above 20th century average temperatures while July was fourth hottest on record.
NCDC climatologist Jake Crouch said that if the remaining months of this year make it to at least the top five warmest on record, which could likely happen, this year would be the warmest year on record.
"If we continue a consistent departure from average for the rest of 2014, we will edge out 2010 as the warmest year on record," Crouch said.
The formation of El Niño conditions in the Pacific Ocean indicates the possibility that warm temperature trends will continue for the rest of the year. NOAA is anticipating the El Niño to start by the end of 2014 and the phenomenon could have a devastating effect across the globe as it brings along with it extreme weather conditions and abnormal temperature.
Global average temperatures have been rising, and experts attribute this to man-made activities such as the excessive emission of greenhouse gases, which are known to contribute to global warming. Among the repercussions of a warming planet include drought, which could result in food and water shortages and the occurrence of extreme weather events that could potentially claim lives and properties.
