If you thought the weather was unseasonably mild last month, you’re likely not the only one.
Scientists have warned that the world is on track to break a huge climate record following the second-hottest October in history.
The average global temperature for last month was 59.58°F (15.32°C), according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
This makes October 2024 just 0.09°F (0.05°C) cooler than October 2023, the hottest October in history.
What’s more, last month’s figure is 2.38°F (1.32°C) above the 20th-century average of 57.2°F (14.0°C).
Worryingly, experts point to human-cased greenhouse gas emissions as the cause for this latest temperature ‘anomaly’.
The Met Office has already revealed that the UK experienced ‘above average’ temperatures last month – although this new data is an average for the whole world.
NOAA also warns that 2024 is ‘almost certainly’ going to be Earth’s warmest year on record, beating the record set by 2023.
The US government agency relies on temperature sensors positioned around the world, such as on floating buoys and satellites.
NOAA’s findings corroborate those recently revealed by Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the EU’s weather and climate programme.
While C3S put the global average slightly lower than NOAA – 59.45°F (15.25°C) – it also said 2024 is due to be the hottest year on record.
In a statement, NOAA revealed that 12 per cent of the world’s surface had a record-high October temperature last month.
‘Earth saw another unusually warm month, with October 2024 ranking as the second-warmest October in NOAA’s 175-year global climate record,’ it said.
‘October temperatures were above average across much of the global land surface except for Greenland, central and southern Africa, parts of central Asia and much of eastern Antarctica.
‘North America had its warmest October on record while South America and Oceania were second warmest.’
This year to date – January to October 2024 – the global surface temperature has been 2.3°F (1.28°C) above the 20th-century average, making it the hottest such period on record.
In the US, ‘persistent’ heat and dry conditions caused rapid expansion of drought last month, NOAA added, especially in the Mid-Atlantic.
Weather stations in New Jersey, Virginia and Delaware set records for the number of consecutive days without measurable precipitation from late September through to early November.
NOAA also revealed that last month set a worrying record for October how much sea ice (frozen seawater) is covering the globe.
A lack of sea ice is linked with global warming and can threaten habitats for penguins, seals and other Antarctic animal life.
Less sea ice also contributes to a rise in global sea levels, which is increasing concern for coastal cities at risk of flooding.
October’s global sea ice extent was the smallest in the 46-year record – 1.25 million square miles below the average for the period 1991 to 2020.
Specifically in the Arctic, sea ice extent was below average (by 600,000 square miles), ranking fourth lowest on record
Meanwhile the Antarctic sea ice extent was also below average by 650,000 square miles, ranking second lowest on record.
NOAA also links hotter temperatures with catastrophic weather events across the globe, including Hurricane Milton which killed 35 people in the US and Mexico.
As the air continues to warm due to climate change, hurricanes can hold more water vapour, producing more intense rainfall rates in a storm and ultimately more damage.
The Atlantic basin saw five tropical cyclones during October, including Hurricane Milton, which peaked as a Category 5 storm and made landfall just south of Tampa Bay.
Through the end of October there were 70 named year-to-date storms worldwide in 2024, totaling six fewer storms than the long-term average.
Overall, NOAA and CS3 are now in agreement that 2024 will be hotter than record-breaking 2023 which included the hottest summer in 2,000 years.
Worryingly, C3S now predicts that 2024 is also virtually certain to reach 1.55°C above the pre-industrial average.
This is a concern because in 2016, 28 countries signed the Paris Agreement, thereby committing to keep global temperature increases below 1.5°C.
The famous pact was intended to mitigate the worst of the impacts of human-caused climate changed and prevent irreparable damage to the environment.
In previous years, individual months have exceeded the limit set by the Paris Agreement.
However, 2024 would be the first year that the global average surface temperature for the entire year has been more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial average.
Mike Childs, head of science, policy, and research at Friends of the Earth, said the time for world leaders to ‘dither and delay is long gone’.
‘Our ailing planet is sending us every signal that it is in crisis – the latest being the deadly floods in Spain which have claimed the lives of so many and wreaked colossal damage,’ he said.
‘We need global leaders to smash the emergency glass now and do everything in their power to prevent further harm.’
