Besides ushering in the fifth hottest August, steady heat through the first eight months of 2018 made it the fourth warmest year to date for the planet.
Here’s a breakdown of NOAA’s latest monthly global climate analysis:
Climate by the numbers
August 2018
The average global temperature in August was 1.33 degrees F above the 20th-century average of 60.1 degrees. This was the fifth highest global temperature for August in the 139-year record (1880–2018). Last month was also the 42nd consecutive August and the 404th consecutive month with temperatures above average.
The year to date I January through August
The year-to-date average global temperature was 1.37 degrees F above average of 57.3 degrees. This is the fourth highest on record for the January through August (YTD) period, but 0.47 of a degree lower than the record high set in 2016 for the same period.
Read more at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Image: An annotated map of the world showing notable climate events that occurred in August 2018. For details, see the bulleted list below in our story and on the Web at http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/2018/08. (CREDIT: NOAA NCEI)