Last month marked the hottest November in 136 years, marking seven months in a row of record-breaking temperatures that are set to make 2015 the warmest year in modern history, US government scientists said today.
The November temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.75 degrees Fahrenheit (0.97 degrees Celsius) above the 20th century average, said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in its monthly climate report.
"This was the highest for November in the 1880-2015 record," said the report.
"Most of the globe is covered in record warmth," said Jake Crouch, climate scientist at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.
"At this point we're virtually certain that 2015 will be the warmest year on record," he told reporters.
The only way for 2015 not to shatter new records would be if December were unusually cold -- 0.43 degrees Fahrenheit colder than the coldest December on record which came in 1916.
"That's not going to happen," Crouch said.
