September 2020 was the hottest on record

Irina Ziganshina

Globally, last month was 0.05 °C warmer than September 2019 and 0.08 °C warmer than September 2016. This was due to record high temperatures in several regions, including Northern Siberia, the Middle East and parts of South America and Australia, the Independent reports.

The average temperature in Europe, according to the readings of the European Climate Change Service Copernicus (C3S), was also a record warm - 0.2 ° C warmer than September 2018.

The researchers believe that 2020 as a whole is likely to break temperature records in 2016, which is considered the warmest calendar year on record.

Another sad indicator is that the ice in the Arctic has shrunk to the second lowest in history (the record is September 2012). This is due to the fact that the last six months in the Siberian Arctic, there has been a higher than average temperature. In general, this region is known for strong temperature fluctuations, but this year the heat was "unusual in its strength and persistence," notes C3S.

Since the first satellite observations in the 1970s, the extent of sea ice in the polar region has declined sharply. This trend is visible all year round, but becomes most evident in September, when the ice cover reaches its annual minimum.