Individually, both sea and land surface temperatures were impressive as well. Global land surface temperature was the second highest on record, behind 2005. Temperatures for the surface ran 1.75 degrees above normal, which is 53.6 degrees F. The ocean surface was tied for 5^th warmest for September with 2004. That was despite the Gulf of Alaska and near-Antarctic southern ocean both being significantly cooler than normal. 

 

The focus of any global warming argument seems to be the polar ice caps, and if you’re tuning in for some ammo for you argument, I’ve got some for both sides. The Arctic Sea ice covered an average of 2.1 million square miles for September, the third lowest on the records (records started in 1979). In fact, the coverage was 23.8 percent below the average from 1979 to 2000. On the other hand, the Antarctic sea ice extent for September was 2.2 percent above the 1979-2000 average, the third largest September on record.

 

The report included some bigger events, including a warmer than average time in Canada, much of the U.S., Europe, most of Asia, and Australia. There was also the second deadliest typhoon this year. Typhoon Ketsana claimed nearly 500 lives in the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. The storm made landfall on September 26^th and had 80 percent of Manila underwater.