Last month was the hottest September on record, which means 2016 is all but locked into being the hottest year on record, according to new NASA statistics released Tuesday.
“With data now available through September, 2016 annual record (~1.25ºC above late 19th [century]) seems locked in,” tweeted Dr. Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
By a narrow 0.004° C, last month beat out September 2014 to be the hottest September in 136 years of record-keeping, NASA said, in addition to being .91°C warmer than the month’s mean temperature from 1951-1980.
It follows several consecutive record-setting periods, including August tying July for hottest month since reliable temperature-measuring instruments started being used, and is also notable for the fact that September is usually the year’s low point for carbon emissions—but not this year.