Last month turned out to be the hottest August ever.
 
According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Thursday, the average global temperature over land and sea last month was the warmest for August since records began being kept in 1880.
 
The agency said many parts of the world, including South America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia, reported record high temperatures for August last month.
 
The surge was largely driven by a rise in seawater temperatures. The NOAA said the August globally-averaged sea surface temperature was zero-point-78 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average.
 
It was the highest sea surface temperature on record, breaking the previous mark set in July by zero-point-04 degrees Celsius.
 
Scientists said that global warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels is aggravating El Niño, the cause of the water temperature rise.