"October 2023 has seen exceptional temperature anomalies, following on from four months of global temperature records being obliterated," one scientist explained.

By Paul Godfrey, UPI

Published Nov 8, 2023 2:53 PM EDT | Updated Nov 8, 2023 3:02 PM EDT

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Global "surface air temperature anomalies" produced the warmest October on record with the result that 2023 is on track to be Earth's warmest ever year, the European Union's climate change service said Wednesday. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Global "surface air temperature anomalies" produced the warmest October on record with the result that 2023 is on track to be Earth's warmest ever year, the European Union's climate change service said Wednesday.

With an average temperature of 15.3 degrees Celsius, almost one degree above the 1991-2020 average and 0.4 degrees Celsius above the previous warmest October in 2019, October 2023 was the warmest since records began in 1850, The Copernicus Climate Change Service said in a news release.

The October temperature anomaly was second only to September and 1.7 degrees Celsius warmer than the average October in the benchmark pre-industrial era, determined by Copernicus as 1850-1900.

Copernicus said "exceptional anomalies" in the first 10 months of the year pushed Earth's mean temperature substantially above the pre-industrial average and 0.1 degrees Celsius higher than the warmest year on record in 2016.

Copernicus' climate Deputy Director Samantha Burgess said she was virtually certain 2023 would be the warmest year on record and that the temperatures were a wake-up call for policymakers heading to the United Nations Conference of the Parties climate summit in the United Arab Emirates in three weeks.

"October 2023 has seen exceptional temperature anomalies, following on from four months of global temperature records being obliterated. We can say with near certainty that 2023 will be the warmest year on record, and is currently 1.43 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial average," said Burgess.

"The sense of urgency for ambitious climate action going into COP28 has never been higher."

The average sea surface temperature for October was also the highest on record at 20.79 degrees Celsius with air surface and sea temperatures being driven up as El Niño conditions develop in the equatorial Pacific, although anomalies remained lower than those during record El Niño years of 1997 and 2015.

September was the warmest in recorded history as average surface air temperatures reached an unprecedented 16.4 degrees Celsius triggering an increase in extreme weather events.

Global temperatures for the month eclipsed the previous heat record set in September 2020.