It was also the 38th consecutive August with a global temperature above the 20th century average, NOAA researchers say

Sep 19, 2014 20:03 GMT  ·  By

A report released by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says that this year's August was the hottest ever since record keeping began in 1880. That's right, this August was the hottest in over 13 decades. But, hey, global warming is not real, so there's nothing to worry about, right?

What's more, the researchers behind this study say that, according to data at hand, last month was the 38th consecutive August when the temperature documented on a global scale exceeded the 20th century average. Then again, how is this information a good enough reason to stop burning fossil fuels?

Land and ocean temperature combined

In its report, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration details that, in this year's August, the combined average temperature for both sea and ocean surfaces was 61.45 degrees Fahrenheit (16.35 degrees Celsius).

This means that it was 1.35 degrees Fahrenheit (0.75 degrees Celsius) higher than the 20th century average, i.e. 60.1 degrees Fahrenheit (15.6 degrees Celsius).

The previous record holder was August 1998, when global land and ocean temperature exceeded the 20th century average by 0.07 degrees Fahrenheit (0.04 degrees Celsius), Science Daily informs.

Global land temperature

By the looks of it, the average land temperature documented on a global scale in this year's August exceeded the 20th century average of 56.9 degrees Fahrenheit (13.8 degrees Celsius) by 1.78 degrees Fahrenheit (0.99 degrees Celsius).

Specialists with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say that, except for some regions in western Europe, eastern Asia, central Australia and northern Siberia, warmer than average temperatures were evident pretty much all across the globe.

Global ocean temperature

In this year's August, the global ocean temperature exceeded the 61.4 degrees Fahrenheit (16.4 degrees Celsius) documented all throughout the 20th century by an impressive 1.17 degrees Fahrenheit (0.65 degrees Celsius).

It is understood that record warmth was documented across the better part of the central and western equatorial Pacific. Still, the waters in some regions of the eastern Pacific and the western Indian Ocean were abnormally warm as well.

How ice is coping with these changes in global temperatures

This latest National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Report says that, last month, the Arctic's average sea ice cover was one of 2.40 million square miles (6.21 million square kilometers), which means that it was 13.9% lower than the average documented for the period between 1981 and 2010, and the 7th smallest since record keeping began in 1979.

By comparison, the Antarctic had a 7.41 million square miles (19.19 million square kilometers) average sea ice cover, a figure that is 6% higher than the 1981-2010 average. In fact, this August's Antarctic sea ice cover was the largest for this month since record keeping began in 1979.

Scientists constantly monitor global temperatures and sea ice extents in both the Arctic and the Antarctica in order to determine how our planet is responding to climate change and global warming. Judging by these latest figures, there is little doubt that these phenomena are progressing.