Washington ? Three-quarters of the way through the year, 2002 is turning into the second hottest year on record, easily elbowing last year into third place.

The average global temperature for January through September 2002 was 58.48 degrees Fahrenheit 1.04 degrees warmer than the 122-year normal. This year is 0.16 degrees warmer than last year, but still 0.14 degrees off the record set in a sizzling 1998, according to the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C.

With only three months left in the year along with a mild El Niarming of the central Pacific Ocean, it’s very unlikely that 2002 will fall out of second place, said Jay Lawrimore, chief of the climate monitoring branch for the NCDC, which keeps U.S. and global climate records. In fact, 2002 may get close to challenging 1998 for the hottest ever, he said.

If the trend continues this year, the 10 hottest years on record will all have occurred since 1987, even though records go back to 1880.

One year does not make a trend toward global warming, but putting 2002 together with past years and decades does, Lawrimore said. Thousands of the world’s top climate scientists have concluded for more than a decade now that the world is warming up because of emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, mostly from the burning of fossil fuels.

“If you look at the long-term and what’s been happening, it’s fairly obvious that the climate is changing,” Lawrimore said Sunday.

Every month in 2002 has ranked among the top five hottest ever for those months. January and March were the hottest ever. February, April, June, and July were the second hottest ever. May was No. 3, August No. 5 and September ranked fourth.

It is part of a trend. September marked the 206th consecutive month of warmer-than-normal world temperatures. The last time temperatures a-round the world were cooler than the 122-year average was in July 1985.

In the United States it’s only been the seventh-hottest January to September, behind 2000, 1934, 1998, 1990, 1921 and 1986. The U.S. average temperature so far this year is 57.3 degrees 1.4 degrees hotter than normal.

¢ lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2002/sep/sep02.html

For 39 states, this year so far has been significantly hotter than normal and for 19 states it has ranked in the top 10 for heat.

It’s been the hottest first nine months ever for Delaware. New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey and Maryland all logged their second hottest ever nine months since 1895.

The January-September period in Kansas was the state’s 19th hottest.

Of more concern was the state’s lack of rainfall. Last month was drier than normal, ranking as the 20th driest September in the 108-year record. The persistent dryness of the last 12 months has resulted in Kansas’ 10th driest hydrologic year (October-September) on record.