There is unlikely to be a La Nina event in late 2016 as water temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean should be just around average for the rest of the year, predicts a model based on NASA satellite data.
•    The GMAO uses NASA satellite data to predict the likelihood of an El Nino or La Nina event.
•    Last winter saw an extremely strong El Nino event, in which warmer-than-average water sloshed toward the eastern Pacific Ocean.
•    Historically, some of the larger El Nino events are followed by a La Nina event, in which deep, colder-than-average water surfaces in the eastern Pacific Ocean, off the coast of South America.
•    For GMAO, the seasonal forecasts are one way to use NASA satellite data to improve near-term climate predictions of the Earth system.

August 2016 was the hottest month measured since contemporary records began in 1880, according to a NASA analysis. 
•    It was not only the hottest August ever, but also it ties July 2016 as the hottest month ever—an extraordinary occurrence.
•    In 2015, the hottest October ever took place, and it was followed by the hottest November ever, and then by the hottest December ever—and this sequence continued right up to the present.
•    The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) keeps separate records, and its streak of record-breaking months stretches even further back in time: Every month since May 2015 has been the hottest version of that month ever, according to the agency. 
•    Second, August’s record essentially ensures that 2016 will be the warmest year on record. 
•    2016 could wind up being as much as 1 degree Celsius hotter than the pre-industrial temperature average. 

August 2016 was the hottest month measured since contemporary records began in 1880, according to a NASA analysis. 
•    It was not only the hottest August ever, but also it ties July 2016 as the hottest month ever—an extraordinary occurrence.
•    In 2015, the hottest October ever took place, and it was followed by the hottest November ever, and then by the hottest December ever—and this sequence continued right up to the present.
•    The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) keeps separate records, and its streak of record-breaking months stretches even further back in time: Every month since May 2015 has been the hottest version of that month ever, according to the agency. 
•    Second, August’s record essentially ensures that 2016 will be the warmest year on record. 
•    2016 could wind up being as much as 1 degree Celsius hotter than the pre-industrial temperature average. 
•    This is a stark accomplishment when you consider that the nations of the world committed last year to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average. 
•    We are two-thirds of the way there already.
 

The US space agency, NASA, on 8 September 2016 launched OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security-Regolith Explorer) spacecraft. 
•    The unmanned spacecraft, OSIRIS-REx, blasted off onboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
•    OSIRIS-REx is United States’ first mission to collect samples from an asteroid and return to Earth. 
•    The 800 million dollar mission will travel for two years on a journey to Bennu, a near-Earth asteroid about the size of a small mountain.
•    NASA feels that the asteroid may hold clues to the origin of the solar system and the source of water and organic molecules found on Earth.
•    Scientists at NASA said OSIRIS-REx's main goal is to gather dirt and debris at least 60 grams (2.1 ounces) from the surface of the asteroid and return it to Earth by 2023 for further study.