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Earth has experienced its warmest August on record, says NOAA

​​​​​​​View Date:2024-12-23 22:00:01

Earth experienced its warmest August on record, in a continuation of extreme heat records being broken in 2023, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Record-warm temperatures covered nearly 13% of the world's surface last month, the highest percentage since records began in 1951, NOAA announced in its monthly global climate advisory. Asia, Africa, North America and South America each saw their warmest August on record, while Europe and Oceania, the latter encompassing Australia and neighboring island nations, each had their second-warmest August on record.

MORE: Some of the ways extreme heat will change life as we know it

The August global surface temperature was 2.25 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average of 60.1 degrees, which is .52 degrees above the previous record set in August 2016 and the third-highest monthly temperature anomaly of any month on record, according to NOAA.

Additionally, last month was the 45th-consecutive August and the 534th-consecutive month with temperatures above the 20th-century average.

A cyclist rides near flowers in Central Park as temperatures reach above 60 degrees during the first weekend of spring, March 26, 2023, in New York.Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

August 2023 also set a record for the highest monthly sea surface temperature anomaly, about a 1.85-degree Fahrenheit increase, according to NOAA.

Nineteen named storms, eight of which reached major tropical cyclone strength with maximum sustained winds of at least 111 mph, occurred across the globe in August, which is tied for the third most for August since 1981, according to NOAA.

MORE: There is another marine heat wave in US waters, this time in the Gulf of Mexico

While global marine heat waves and a growing El Nino are driving additional warming this year, greenhouse gas emissions are the culprit behind a steady march of background warming, NOAA chief scientist Sarah Kapnick said in a statement.

"We expect further records to be broken in the years to come," Kapnick said.

People wearing masks walk along the Hudson River as smoke shrouds the skyline of lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center as the sun rises in New York, June 8, 2023, as seen from Hoboken, N.J.Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

Earth was hot for the entire summer season, with the period of June through August also the warmest on record for the planet, according to NOAA.

MORE: July poised to be hottest month in recorded history: Experts

Antarctica has also seen its fourth consecutive month with the lowest sea ice extent, or coverage, on record.

Global sea ice extent was also at a record low in August, according to NOAA. Globally, sea ice extent in August 2023 was about 550,000 square miles less than the previous record low, seen in August 2019.

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