Scientists at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (Giss) in New York have released the latest analyses of global mean temperatures recorded for the month of August. And they confirm the trend: August was the hottest month in the last 136 years, that is, since instrumental measurements began.

This is clearly visible in the graph above. The blue curves are those recorded in the final years of the 1800s, while the green ones are the averages recorded from the 1940s–60s onwards, during the first economic boom of the post-war period. But what should immediately catch the eye are the red curves. First, because they represent a shorter time interval (namely the last 16 years). Second, because August 2016 already starts with a significantly higher average, breaking away entirely from the rest of the curves. We are already above 2 degrees centigrade, albeit only just.

August 2016, the hottest ever

While it is usually July that records the greatest thermal anomalies, this year scientists' attention has focused on the month of August. "Monthly variations, which change by only a few hundredths of a degree, are inherently fragile," explains Giss director Gavin Schmidt in a statement. "We emphasise that it is the long-term values that are most important for understanding the changes taking place on our planet."

The fact remains that August is the 11th consecutive month to record the highest temperatures. Since last October 2015, data collected from 6,300 weather stations both on land and at the ocean surface, as well as data gathered in Antarctica, confirm the anomaly.

Scientists agree

Not only Nasa, but also scientists from Noaa, the British Met Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency agree that recent years — in particular the three-year period 2014–15–16 — are the hottest ever recorded. And they confirm this independently, that is, by reporting different measurements that nonetheless converge on the same result. The planet's temperatures are rising, inexorably.