Washington, Aug 21 (IANS): July was the hottest month since record-keeping began worldwide, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said here on Thursday.

The July average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 16. 61 degrees Celsius, the all-time highest monthly temperature in the 1880-2015 period, Xinhua quoted the agency as saying in a statement.

It surpassed the previous record set in 1998 by 0.08 degrees, the NOAA said.

Separately, the July globally-averaged land surface temperature was 0.96 degrees above the 20th century average, and the globally- averaged sea surface temperature was 0.75 degrees above the 20th century average, it said.

Meanwhile, the NOAA said the temperature combined globally during the first seven months of the year also beat all-time record, making it likely that 2015 will be the hottest year on record.

The new report reaffirmed that the world is warming and continues to warm, said the NOAA.