September 2020 was the hottest September on record. This September was 0.09 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than September last year, and this summer also saw record heat for many US cities, with the hottest day ever also occurring in August — 130 degrees in Death Valley. The incomparable temperatures contributed to the devastating fires that are still raging in California.
According to scientists, the temperature increase is a sign that global temperatures are being consistently driven up by human emissions.
Samantha Burgess, the deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, told the BBC, “Some of these events are extraordinary — although we mustn’t create a false expectation that temperatures will go up year on year. Climate and weather are highly variable. But we predicted that these sort of events would happen, given our effect on the climate.”
September was 1.3 degrees hotter than pre-industrial levels. If global temperatures rise 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, it will cause major negative effects on the climate.