August 2016 world’s hottest on record
AUGUST 2016 WAS the 16th consecutive month to set a global temperature record for that particular month. It was the hottest August since records began 136 years ago, breaking the previous August record set just last year.
August 2016 also tied with July 2016 as the hottest month ever recorded on Earth.
According to a State of the Climate report issued by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) today, August 2016 was 0.92°C above the 20th-century average.
2016 is now almost certainly on track to beat 2015 as the Earth’s hottest year on record.
“We’ve now seen record-breaking heat across the globe for the past 16 consecutive months. Six to twelve months ago, the strong El Niño played a part in driving high global temperatures, but that effect has now waned or completely disappeared by August,” said Professor Will Steffen, an Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University in Canberra and a Climate Councillor at the Climate Council of Australia.
“The influence of climate change in driving these continuous monthly records is now coming through loud and clear,” he said.
Temperature anomaly in °C (difference from 1980-2015 annual mean). (Credit: Joshua Stevens, based on data from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies)
