WASHINGTON -- Scientists say the globe sizzled to a record tying hot month in September, driven partly by a sweaty United States.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says 2019 tied with 2015 for the hottest September on record globally. September averaged 60.71 degrees (15.95 Celsius), 1.71 degrees (0.95 Celsius) higher than the 20th century average.
Temperatures on land were the hottest on record for September, with records going back to 1880.
NOAA calculates that Earth is on pace for the second hottest year on record, behind 2016.
NOAA climate monitoring chief Deke Arndt says all but the western third of the United States was record or near-record hot in the month.
Arndt says this is warming that's been going on for decades from heat-trapping gases from the burning of fossil fuels.
