August was fairly seasonable in New York City this year. For the Earth as a whole, however, the average temperature soared to a record high yet again.
According to a report released this week by NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, August 2014 was the warmest August ever recorded for the entire planet. Earth’s combined average temperature for the month – over both land and sea surfaces – was 61.45°F. That is 1.35°F above the 20th century average. August 2014 also marked the 354th consecutive month that our global temperature was above its long-term norm.
Rising ocean temperatures, according to NOAA, helped fuel this record warmth. In fact, the August global sea surface temperature was 1.17°F above its long-term average of 61.4°F. That is the highest for any August on record and the highest departure from average for any month. The previous all-time record high was set just two months ago in June 2014.
Year to date, 2014 is currently the Earth’s third warmest year on record. Global temperature records date back to 1880.