The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced on Wednesday that the contiguous United States experienced its hottest summer on record, with an average temperature of 23.6 degrees Celsius (74.4 degrees Fahrenheit) from June through August. This was 1.7C (3F) above the 20th-century average and 0.2C (0.4F) hotter than the previous record. August also marked the hottest August on record. NOAA noted that four of the five hottest US summers have occurred in the past five years, attributing this broader warming trend largely to the burning of fossil fuels.