Earth Has its Third Warmest August on Record in 2017

https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/earth-has-its-third-warmest-august-record-2017

Dr. Jeff Masters · September 18, 2017, 6:04 AM EDT

August 2017 was the planet's third warmest August since record keeping began in 1880, said NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) on Monday. NASA rated August 2017 as the second warmest August on record. The only warmer Augusts, according to NOAA, came during 2016 and 2015, when a strong El Niño was helping increase global temperatures. Minor differences can occur between the NASA and NOAA rankings because of their different techniques for analyzing data-sparse regions such as the Arctic.

Global ocean temperatures last month were the fourth warmest on record for any August, according to NOAA, and global land temperatures were the second warmest on record. Global satellite-measured temperatures for the lowest 8 km of the atmosphere were the third or second warmest for any August in the 39-year record, according to the University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH) and Remote Sensing Systems (RSS), respectively.

Second-warmest year on record thus far

Each of the first eight months of 2017 have ranked among the top three warmest such months on record, giving 2017 the second highest January–August temperature in the 138-year record: 0.88°C (1.58°F) above the 20th century average. This is behind the record year of 2016 by 0.13°C (0.24°F). This near-record warmth is especially remarkable given the lack of an El Niño event this year. Global temperatures tend to be warmer during El Niño years, when the ocean releases more heat to the atmosphere. Given the lack of an El Niño event in 2017, it is unlikely that we will surpass 2016 as the warmest year on record. However, 2017 is almost certain to be the planet's warmest year on record that lacks any influence from El Niño, and Earth's four warmest years of the last century-plus are likely to be 2016, 2017, 2015, and 2014.

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Arctic sea ice extent during August 2017 was the third lowest in the 38-year satellite record, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).

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Sea ice surrounding Antarctica has been at unprecedented lows in recent months, setting an all-time monthly minimum extent record each month during the five-month period November 2016 – March 2017, and again in August of 2017. Monthly Antarctic sea ice extent in April, May, June, and again in August of 2017 were the second lowest on record for their respective months.

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According to French climatologist Jérôme Reynaud, the temperature has reached or exceeded 50°C (122°F) more than 700 times in the world in 2017 (in 10 countries). That’s an absolute record, surpassing the previous record of 300+ times, set in 2016.

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Since the beginning of 2017, particularly high nighttime temperatures have also been observed in several regions of the world (in 10 countries**). There have been 200+ instances of nighttime minimum temperatures of at least 36°C (96.8°F) (including some at an elevation about 800 meters.)

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