Last August Was the Hottest Month Ever Recorded on Earth
The Copernicus Climate Change Service, a European climate monitoring agency, maintains that last August was the hottest month on Earth since records began. The global average temperature during August was 16.96 °C, that is, 0.85 °C above the 1991 to 2020 average. The record surpassed the previous maximum, which corresponded to July 2023, when the […]
Last August marked the hottest month ever recorded on Earth, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service. The average global temperature reached 16.96 °C, which is 0.85 °C higher than the 1991-2020 average. This surpasses the previous record set in July 2023, when the global temperature reached 16.95 °C. August also broke the 1.5 °C warming mark compared to preindustrial levels, marking the first time this has happened in a month since November of the previous year.
The record heat was partly driven by record-high ocean temperatures, with global sea surface temperatures matching the warmest monthly average for any month. These records are attributed to long-term global warming due to human activities and the strengthening of the El Nino phenomenon in the Pacific. The record was notable for being warmer in August than in July, which is typically the hottest month.
This is unusual, as July usually records the highest global temperatures. Since 1940, global average temperatures in August have only exceeded July's on four previous occasions. The Arctic experienced its sixth-lowest extent of sea ice in August, while Antarctic sea ice extent was 6.5% below average for the month. The NOAA also reported that the United States experienced its hottest summer ever, surpassing the 1936 record.
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