August 2014 was the warmest since records began in 1880, new data from NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies reveals.
The month's combined global land and ocean temperature was 0.70 degrees C (1.26 degrees F) warmer than the average temperature from the baseline period 1951-1980.
Climatologist Gavin Schmidt, Director of GISS, stated to Huffington Post and Weather.com that it was important not to stress a particular month's temperature anomaly, noting that August 2014's data was statistically similar to other years' including 2011 and 2008; rather, he said, it is the long-term trend of warming that is important to note.
In January, NASA scientists emphasized this trend, stating that the 10 warmest years in the 134-year record all have occurred since 2000.