Global Temperatures In 2017 Tracking For Third-Hottest Year On Reocrd
Planet Earth has had its second-warmest year so far, and in the end, 2017 may wind up being the third-warmest year on record, ranking just behind behind 2016 and 2015. This year is also headed for the warmest year to occur without any El Niño or La Niña event in the tropical Pacific Ocean.
El Niño and La Niña events influence global average surface temperatures. El Niño in particular is well-known to boost global average temperatures on top of the long-term warming due to human emissions of greenhouse gases. This is what helped vault 2015 and 2016 to the top of the record warm years list, and this year's lack of an El Niño event could keep 2017 at number three.
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New data released on Wednesday shows that the first nine months of the year ranked just 0.23 degrees Fahrenheit behind the record warmth seen in 2016. However, the same period only exceeded 2015 by 0.02 degrees Fahrenheit, and 1998 by 0.34 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The month of September was the fourth-warmest such month for the globe on record, according to both NOAA and NASA.
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http://mashable.com/2017/10/19/planet-second-warmest-year-global-warming/#sOww_TNknmqU
