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This year Earth on pace to seeing second hottest year on record

2020 temperatures running 0.05 degrees shy of record from 2016

FILE - In this Aug. 16, 2019 file photo, icebergs float away as the sun rises near Kulusuk, Greenland. According to a study released on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, Greenland lost a record amount of ice during an extra warm 2019, with the melt massive enough to cover California in more than four feet (1.25 meters) of water. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File) (Felipe Dana, Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Data has shown Earth has seen a rapid temperature climb over the past century and it looks like 2020 is continuing that trend at a record pace over the past 10 months.

Globally, October 2020 now stands in fourth place for the hottest October ever recorded.

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According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the average global land and ocean surface temperature for October 2020 was 1.53 degrees above the 20th century average.

A record-breaking October has become a common occurrence, with the top seven hottest Octobers all occurring in the last seven years.

During this time, the arctic sea saw a new record low. The coverage was 36.8% below the average, the smallest October extent on record. This surpasses the previous October record-low coverage set just last year.

Even with the melting ice cover and record heat, the Northern Hemisphere’s snow coverage last month was the 10th largest October snow cover on record for the month.

These are some other significant climate anomalies and events that occurred during October 2020.

Significant climate anomalies and events that occurred during October 2020

With October now in the books, 2020 is on track to being the second hottest year on record. The year-to-date global temperature was a whopping 1.80 degrees above the average. This is also only 0.05 degrees shy of tying the record set in 2016.

2020 Temperature Rankings

Locally, we are also on track to see the hottest year on record in Orlando, Melbourne and Sanford.


About the Author
Candace Campos headshot

Candace Campos joined the News 6 weather team in 2015.

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