2021 is likely to be one of the warmest years on record. The average temperature in October was also exceeded.

The previous month was the warmest October in the Northern Hemisphere since records began in 1880, according to measurements by the US climate agency NOAA. Average temperatures over land areas of the Northern Hemisphere would have been around 0.11 degrees Celsius for October 2019 – the previous record holder – NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) announced on Monday.

According to NOAA, it was the fourth warmest October worldwide since records began. Average temperatures over land and ocean areas were 0.89 °C higher than the 20th century average of 14 °C. Only in 2015, 2018 and 2019 were Octobers around the world even warmer.

The chances of 2021 being one of the ten warmest years since records began are already more than 99 percent, NOAA said. In late October, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced that, according to preliminary measurements, the year 2021 may not have been quite as warm as the previous three years, but nothing had changed in the long-term trend of significant warming. 2021 will be one of the seven warmest years in recent history – since 2015.