August declared the hottest month ever recorded

In August, the world experienced a joint-hottest month on record, as confirmed by official EU data. Average global temperatures soared 1.65 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, according to Copernicus, the EU's Earth observation unit. This marked the second time in history that monthly global temperatures reached this level, with July 2023 being the only other instance.

The record temperatures were primarily attributed to global heating from fossil fuel combustion and rising sea surface temperatures in the Pacific, which were influenced by a strong El Niño climate pattern. Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, stated that these observations demonstrate how climate change is driving extreme weather events both in the atmosphere and the oceans.

The sweltering August followed a record-breaking European summer characterized by heatwaves, wildfires, and droughts. Global greenhouse gas emissions from human activities surged 0.7% in 2025, reaching a record 54 billion tons of CO2 equivalent. The United States saw the largest increase in climate pollution, with a 2.2% rise, while China's emissions grew by 0.1%, and India's emissions decreased by 0.2%.

The EU's emissions also fell by 0.2% in 2025. Copernicus' figures combine global air and sea surface temperatures. In August, global surface air temperatures hit 16.96 degrees Celsius, the joint-hottest monthly temperature ever recorded, surpassing the 30-year average between 1990 and 2020 by 0.85 degrees Celsius. The average sea surface temperature was 21.07 degrees Celsius, also the joint-hottest on record.

In Europe, August was the fourth-hottest month on record, with temperatures 1.1 degrees Celsius above the 30-year average. Overall, 2026 was Europe's third-hottest summer on record and the hottest ever recorded in Western Europe.