Last month brought severe drought, wildfires, and sweltering-hot temperatures to many parts of the world, including North America and Europe, which both experienced their hottest-ever Augusts on record, according to a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Overall, NOAA said, record-warm temperatures encompassed roughly 8.2% of the world’s surface last month.
Both Europe and China saw their warmest-ever summers, the report found, while North America had its second-warmest period ever ranging from June to August.More than 33,000 fires were detected in the Brazilian Amazon this August, NOAA found, the highest monthly amount since more than 10 years ago. Antarctic Sea ice also reached a record low, falling to 4.2% below average in August.
The heat exacerbated extreme drought conditions everywhere from the southwest U.S. to southwest China, causing water levels to plummet along key waterways and disrupting life for millions. China’s Yangtze River fell in August to nearly half its normal width, forcing power outages in the hydropower-dependent provinces of Sichuan and Chengdu.
Meanwhile, levels at Germany’s Rhine fell so low in August that one of its key waypoints became virtually impassable, restricting cargo shipments along one of the country’s most bustling commercial routes.Globally, NOAA said, last month ranked as the sixth-hottest August ever recorded since 1880, when it first began collecting such data.