August tied hottest month on record globally, Copernicus says

A powerful El Niño rapidly developing in the Pacific Ocean is already being felt. Europe's climate agency says August was the joint-hottest month on record globally.(CN) — Last month was the warmest August ever recorded globally and matched July 2023, the hottest month ever measured, Europe’s climate monitor said Thursday.Last month’s heat showed that the planet looks set to enter a new phase of extreme heat as a powerful El Niño emerges in the Pacific Ocean, bringing additional warmth to a planet already stressed by global warming caused by the burning of fossil fuels.August’s average global surface air temperature measured 16.96 degrees Celsius (67.92 degrees Fahrenheit), the Copernicus Climate Change Service reported.August also marked the end of Western Europe’s warmest summer on record, surpassing a previous record set in 2003, Copernicus said. Scientists warn that Europe is warming faster than other continents.Graphics from the Copernicus Climate Change Service show 2026 was the hottest summer on record in Western Europe. (Courtesy Copernicus Climate Change Service)Since May, Europe has endured a string of dangerous heat waves with severe drought conditions affecting a swath stretching from France and the United Kingdom to Romania and Serbia in the Balkans, Copernicus said.Dry conditions left the Rhine, Danube, Vistula, Southern Bug and Dnieper rivers at extremely low levels, disrupting river traffic to factories in Germany and elsewhere. The Seine, Rhône, Loire and Glomma rivers also were at their lowest seasonal flows since data records began in 1992, Copernicus said.The low water levels on the Danube forced Hungary to take emergency measures to keep its vital nuclear power plant running. In neighboring Romania, the country’s only nuclear power plant was shut down due to a lack of cooling water.August’s extreme heat also pushed the global temperature past the critical threshold of 1.5 C (2.7 F) above pre-industrial levels for the first time since November 2025, Copernicus said. Globally, August measured 1.65 (2.97 F) C above pre-industrial levels.The 2015 Paris Agreement on reducing carbon emissions sought to keep global warming under 1.5 C, but scientists warn the planet is on track to surpass that threshold much sooner than hoped for as carbon emissions continue to rise.The period from June to August also was the joint-warmest on record globally, on par with 2024, Copernicus added. The planet endured a long stretch of heat between 2023 and 2024, the hottest year on record. That heat spell was caused in part by a previous El Niño weather pattern.August also saw the average sea surface temperature over the extra-polar ocean reach a record high, the agency said. It linked this to strong El Niño conditions in the Pacific Ocean and warming caused by burning fossil fuels.“Combined with record global sea surface temperatures and the warmest summer on record for Western Europe, these observations show how climate change is driving extremes across both the atmosphere and the oceans,” said Samantha Burgess, a Copernicus lead climate scientist, in a statement.Courthouse News reporter Cain Burdeau is based in the European Union.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads