August 2026 tied the hottest month ever measured worldwide, while ocean temperatures outside the polar regions reached a record August level, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service reported on Thursday. The global average surface air temperature was 16.96 degrees Celsius, placing August statistically level with July 2023 and making it the warmest August in the ERA5 record, which begins in 1940.
Copernicus calculated that the month stood 0.85 degrees above the 1991-2020 August average and 1.65 degrees above the estimated 1850-1900 preindustrial baseline. It was the first month above 1.5 degrees since November 2025. Climate scientists stressed through Associated Press and Reuters that one monthly reading does not by itself mean the Paris Agreement's long-term 1.5-degree limit has been breached, because that benchmark concerns warming sustained over years.
The agency said average sea surface temperature across ice-free oceans between 60 degrees south and 60 degrees north reached 21.07 degrees Celsius. That was the highest August value in its dataset and tied March 2024 as the highest monthly ocean average. Copernicus attributed the exceptional heat to long-term warming from fossil-fuel emissions combined with rapidly rising temperatures in the tropical Pacific as a strong El Nino intensifies.
The World Meteorological Organization said earlier this month that El Nino is firmly established and has a nearly 100 percent likelihood of lasting through February 2027, with very strong intensity expected before a peak near the end of 2026. The agency cautioned that the strength of El Nino does not translate directly into identical impacts everywhere, but it can substantially shift rainfall and temperature patterns and raise risks of heat, drought, floods and wildfire in vulnerable regions.
Copernicus also found that the June-August global average tied 2024 as the hottest boreal summer on record. Western Europe recorded its hottest summer, with persistent heat, drought, wildfires and exceptionally low flows on rivers including the Rhine, Danube and Dnieper. Separately, NOAA said the contiguous United States had its hottest summer in a 132-year record, averaging 74.4 degrees Fahrenheit, while drought covered 59.1 percent of the country on September 1.
The results extend a series of recent climate records across land and sea and indicate that communities may face compound pressure on water, health, farming, ecosystems and infrastructure. Copernicus will publish further analysis of Europe's extreme summer later this month, while meteorological agencies are continuing to monitor El Nino and refine regional forecasts. Scientists said preparedness and early warnings will be important as the climate pattern strengthens on top of persistent human-driven warming.
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