Last month’s estimated global temperature and precipitation data has just been released by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Climate data doesn’t get much attention now but it may be worth recording some of the features of the September figures. In particular, I suspect that those who claim global warming has ‘stopped’ will find last month’s data from the Southern Hemisphere, particularly the continent of Australia, quite a challenge to explain.

The following are direct quotations from the NOAA report of October 23.

Global temperature

The globally-averaged temperature across land and ocean surfaces combined was 0.64°C (1.15°F) higher than the 20^th century average, tying with 2003 as the fourth warmest September since records began in 1880.

The six warmest Septembers on record have all occurred since 2003 (2005 is currently record warmest).

September 2013 also marks the fifth consecutive month (since May 2013) with monthly-average global temperatures ranking among the six highest for their respective months.

Southern Hemisphere

Even with cooler-than-average temperatures in much of southern South America and much-cooler-than-average temperatures in eastern South Africa, the Southern Hemisphere was record warm for the month, with an average land temperature that was 1.20°C (2.16°F) higher than average, the third highest monthly anomaly for any month (behind August 2008 and November 2009) in this hemisphere in the 134-year period of record.

(Anomaly means divergence from the historic average. So this paragraph is saying that last month had the third greatest monthly divergence of all months in the last 134 years. - Ed)

Australia in particular

Australia reported its warmest September since national records began in 1910, at 2.75°C (4.95°F) above the 1961–1990 average. The nationally-averaged maximum and minimum temperatures were 3.41°C (6.14°F) and 2.09°C (3.76°F) above average, also record high.

(Please do note the figures – the average temperature was not far off 3 degrees above the historic average – a staggering divergence. - Ed)

Every state and territory across the country had average, maximum, and minimum September temperatures that ranked among their 10 highest, with record warmth for all three in South Australia. The average temperature was record high in every state and territory, with the exception of Tasmania (third highest) and Western Australia (fourth highest).

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, this record-warm month contributed to a record-warm 12-month period (October 2012 to September 2013), marking the second month in a row that the 12-month mean temperature record has been broken.