Earth records second-warmest October on record in 175 years: 2024 on pace to become world’s warmest year on record

Earth had another unusually warm month, with October 2024 ranking as the second-warmest October in NOAA’s 175-year global climate record.

October will add another mild month to 2024, almost certainly the warmest year on record on Earth, according to scientists at NOAA’s National Center for Environmental Information.

Below are highlights from NOAA’s October Global Climate Report.

The average global temperature in October 2024 was 2.38 degrees Celsius (1.32 degrees Celsius) above the 20th century average temperature of 57.2 degrees Celsius (14.0 degrees Celsius), ranking it as the world’s second warmest October on record. Only 0.09 degrees Celsius (0.05 degrees Celsius) colder than October 2023, which was the warmest on record.

Regionally, North America had its warmest October on record, while South America and Oceania each had their second-warmest Octobers.

Year-to-date (January to October 2024), Earth’s surface temperature has been 2.30 degrees F (1.28 degrees Celsius) above the 20th century average, making it the warmest period on record. Africa, Europe, North America, Oceania, and South America each experienced their warmest period so far this year.

According to the NCEI’s Global Annual Temperature Outlook, there is a more than 99% chance that 2024 will be the world’s warmest year on record.

Last month set a record for October sea ice extent. Global sea ice extent (coverage) in October was the lowest in 46 years of record, 1.25 million square miles below the 1991-2020 average. The extent of sea ice in the Arctic is below average (600,000 square miles), the fourth lowest on record, and the extent of Antarctica is also below average (650,000 square miles), the second lowest on record.

Eleven named tropical cyclones formed around the world. Five tropical cyclones formed in the Atlantic Basin during October, including Hurricane Milton, which peaked as a Category 5 storm and made landfall just south of Tampa Bay. In 2024, by the end of October, the world had experienced 70 year-to-date specific storms, totaling six fewer than the long-term average.