In the history of climate records, August 2016 is considered to be the hottest month ever in 136 years, according to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies.
Last month saw global temperatures of 0.16 degrees Celsius. This is hotter than the previous warmest August back in 2014. Record keeping of climate and global temperatures began in 1880.
This record-setting month follows an 11-month period of record-breaking heat based on temperature records. Last month was the hottest along with July 2016. July was 0.1 degrees Celsius warmer than the warmest months on record, which are July 2015, including 2009, and 2011.
According to Gavin Schmidt, the director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, it was first assumed that July 2016 would be the hottest month of this year since temperature peak cycles occur in July.
August is not only the hottest month on record, but it also exceeded the average temperature for that month by 0.98 degrees Celsius. It was warmer than all the other Augusts from 1951 to 1980.
Even this slight difference can be extremely significant, according to Schmidt, who noted that these monthly rankings could reveal that "only a few hundredths of a degree, are inherently fragile." By studying these long-term trends, scientists can gain a better understanding of the changes out planet is currently experiencing.
NASA has said that global surface temperatures can indicate the effects of climate change. The agency revealed that January to June 2016 was the hottest half-year period on record. During this time, temperatures were on average 1.3 degrees hotter compared to the end of the 19th century.
To combat the effects of climate change, the United Nations Paris Climate Agreement was carried out to limit greenhouse emissions and maintain a threshold 1.5 to two degrees temperature within the decade.