Earth sees 2nd hottest October

Earth continued to warm up, making October this year the second-hottest October recorded, according to the latest monthly global climate report by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The average global land and ocean surface temperature for October 2019 was 0.98 degree Celsius above the 20th-century average and the second highest October temperature on record, just behind 2015, said the report released Monday.

October 2019 was also the 43rd consecutive October and the 418th consecutive month with temperatures -- at least nominally -- above the 20th-century average, providing more solid evidence to the global warming.

The Arctic sea ice coverage was the smallest ever recorded for October, which is 32.2 percent below the 1981 to 2010 average, while the world's average sea surface temperature ranked second-warmest ever recorded for the year to date, according to NOAA.

NOAA reported that July this year was the hottest month on Earth in the 140-year record and it was "almost entirely due to climate change" without a strong El Nino being present.

On Nov. 5, a global team of over 11,000 scientists from more than 150 countries declared a climate emergency and warned the catastrophic threat if humanity failed to address the climate crisis.

The rallying call came after the United States formally began the process of withdrawing from the Paris Agreement this month, making it the only nation among nearly 200 signatories that abandoned this global agenda on combating climate change.