European climate monitoring service Copernicus reported that August set a new record as Earth’s hottest month, with global temperatures averaging 62.53 degrees Fahrenheit (16.96 degrees Celsius). This measurement technically tied with July 2023’s previous record by one-hundredth of a degree Celsius, which falls within the uncertainty margin for such measurements. The extreme temperatures contributed to the Northern Hemisphere experiencing its hottest summer on instrumental record.
Globally, August’s temperatures exceeded the 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) threshold established by the 2015 Paris climate agreement by a significant margin, reaching 1.65 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Ocean temperatures in August matched March 2024’s record for warmest month, while August 22 marked the hottest day on record for the world’s seas. The eight hottest months in the instrumental record have all occurred since July 2023, according to Copernicus data.
In the United States, summer temperatures from June through August averaged 74.37 degrees (23.54 degrees Celsius) in the Lower 48 states, surpassing temperatures during the peak of the Dust Bowl in 1936 for the first time on record. August alone set multiple U.S. heat records, with an average temperature of 75.58 degrees and a daytime high average of 88.56 degrees. Climate scientists attributed the pattern of record-breaking temperatures, particularly August exceeding the typically warmer July, to accelerating human-caused climate change.
While a strengthening El Niño contributed to elevated temperatures, climate experts emphasized that human emissions of heat-trapping gases from fossil fuel combustion remain the dominant driver. Scientists indicated that El Niño typically adds only one to two-tenths of a degree Celsius to global temperatures, with the majority of warming attributable to anthropogenic causes. Projections suggest 2026 may become the warmest year on record, with 2027 potentially reaching even higher temperatures as the El Niño event strengthens, possibly approaching 1.8 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
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