Absurdly hot October as Earth sets 8th heat record this year

WASHINGTON (AP) — Even in a record-breaking hot year for Earth, October stood out as absurdly warm.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that last month globally was 58.86 degrees (14.98 degrees Celsius). That's the hottest October on record by a third of a degree over the old mark, "an incredible amount" for weather records, said NOAA climate scientist Jessica Blunden.

October's temperature was the most above-normal month in history. It was 1.76 degrees Fahrenheit (0.98 degrees Celsius) above the 20th-century average.

"A complete blowout," said Jeffrey Sachs, director of Columbia University's Earth Institute. "This year is going to be an all-time record-breaker."

This was the eighth month this year when a heat record was set, with only January and April not setting records. That's a record number of broken records in any year. Records go back to 1880.

Blunden and other scientists blame a potent and strengthening El Nino on top of accelerating man-made global warming.

"This is just a new normal," Blunden said. "I don't know what really else to call it."