According to NOAA findings released Tuesday, the globally averaged surface temperature for August was 0.92 degrees Celsius, or 1.66 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th century average of 15.6 degrees Celsius, or 60.1 degrees Fahrenheit.
This surpassed all other Augusts in temperature data going back to 1880, beating August of 2015 by 0.05 degrees Celsius, or 0.09 degrees Fahrenheit. Unlike NASA, however, NOAA did not find that August tied July for the title of the hottest month on record.
Based on NOAA’s analysis, August was slightly cooler than July, compared to average.
The record warm streak has featured months that have shattered previous milestones, with 14 of the 15 highest monthly temperature departures from average occurring since February 2015, NOAA found.
Consequences
The extraordinarily warm year of 2016 has brought flood disasters to the U.S. — the most recent of which devastated parts of Louisiana — as well as in China.
Typically hot locations, such as India, Kuwait and Iraq, set new benchmarks for what constitutes their hottest days. Meanwhile, the world’s oceans have been suffering through the longest-lasting global coral bleaching event on record, which is now expected to last into 2017.
Meanwhile in the Arctic, both the Northwest and Northeast Passages were open for navigation, with a massive cruise ship passing through the Northwest Passage for the first time, carrying more than 1,000 passengers and crew.
Arctic sea ice hit the second-lowest level on record, which continues the long-term trend toward a seasonally ice-free Arctic.
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