GENEVA: August 2026 was the hottest month ever recorded in human history, with global average air temperatures reaching an unprecedented level, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
The global average temperature in August was 16.96 degrees Celsius, 0.85 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average, the climate monitoring service said.
A major factor behind the record heat was exceptionally high sea surface temperatures, which also reached record levels during the month.
The period from June through August was also the hottest summer on record, according to Copernicus.
Scientists said the warming trend was driven by human-caused climate change and an intensifying El Nino weather pattern.
El Nino occurs when large areas of the tropical Pacific Ocean become unusually warm, contributing to higher global temperatures. Its opposite phase, La Nina, is associated with cooler Pacific waters.
A combination of these climate patterns contributed to extreme heat worldwide, similar to conditions seen in 2023 and 2024.
When El Nino emerged in 2023, global temperatures remained at record levels for 13 consecutive months. Scientists have warned that the latest warming trend could signal the beginning of another period of unusually high temperatures.
Copernicus said Western Europe experienced its hottest summer on record this year, while the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also classified the season as the hottest summer ever recorded in the United States.
The fact that August was warmer than July was particularly unusual, Copernicus said, as July is typically the warmest month of the year.
Climate scientists warned that the world was already experiencing destructive effects of climate change, with extreme weather affecting communities in many regions.
They said the intensity of extreme weather events was continuing to increase and was likely to remain elevated over the long term.
Global temperatures in August were 1.65 degrees Celsius above the estimated pre-industrial average. It was the first month since November 2025 in which the global average temperature exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
The 2015 Paris climate agreement set a goal of limiting the increase in global average temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
A recent United Nations Environment Programme report warned that the long-term 1.5-degree target was increasingly difficult to achieve because emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases had not declined sufficiently.
