The June through August period was the warmest such period on Earth since record-keeping began in 1880, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced Thursday.

In addition, the month of August was the warmest such month on record since 1880 as well, and featured the warmest ocean temperatures ever recorded for any month.

Both of these records, NOAA says, were driven in large part by unusually warm ocean temperatures around the world. In fact, global average ocean temperatures were so high in August — 1.17 degrees Fahrenheit above average, to be exact — that they broke the all-time record set just two months ago.

These temperature records, along with others, have set the world on course to have its warmest year on record, NOAA said.

The NOAA said record warmth was observed across much of the central and western equatorial Pacific Ocean, as well as parts of the western Indian Ocean, especially in the vicinity of Madagascar.

The NOAA data matches information NASA released earlier in the week using slightly different methods of analyzing temperature data, which also found that August was the warmest such month on record.

Temperature departures from average during August 2014.

These announcements are especially significant because this warmth is occurring in the absence of a declared El Niño event in the Pacific. Such events feature unusually warm ocean temperatures and tend to turbocharge the warming already occurring due to manmade greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. For example, El Niño events in 1998 and 2005 led to those years sticking out in global temperature records as the warmest years on record.

The fact that the planet is so warm without an El Niño around to boost temperatures is a sign that global warming has become so noticeable that an El Niño event is no longer needed to set all-time records like this.

The year-to-date is running as the third-warmest year in NOAA's records, but NOAA said that if 2014 maintains the current departure from average (about 1.22 degrees Fahrenheit) for the rest of the year, "it will be the warmest year on record."

Currently, NOAA is predicting a weak to moderate El Niño to develop this fall and winter, which could lead to 2014 or 2015 being declared the new warmest year on record.

The new temperature data also comes just before one of the largest gatherings of world leaders ever to take place on the subject of global warming. The daylong U.N. Climate Summit will be held in New York on Sept. 23.