Last month was the hottest August globally on record, and tied with July 2023 as the joint-hottest month recorded, data from EU earth-monitoring programme Copernicus show.
The global average surface air temperature in August was 16.96°C, 0.85°C above the 1991-2020 average and 1.65°C above the pre-industrial average, Copernicus data show. It was the first month since November which was recorded as above 1.5°C higher than the pre-industrial era.
The Paris climate agreement seeks to curb the global rise in temperature to "well below" 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and pursues a 1.5°C limit.
Western Europe experienced its warmest summer on record, surpassing the previous record set in 2003, Copernicus said. The region recorded "further heatwaves" in August, "continuing an exceptional run of extreme heat that began in May", Copernicus noted.
Severe drought conditions were reported across much of Europe, including in France, the UK, Hungary, Romania and Serbia, affecting power output, transport and agriculture. European river flows were "exceptionally low", including for the Rhine, Danube, Southern Bug and Dnieper rivers, Copernicus added.
The joint-highest monthly average sea surface temperature for non-polar oceans was recorded in August. It stood at 21.07°C, on par with March 2024, Copernicus said. The highest daily sea surface temperature was also recorded in August, at 21.11°C for non-polar oceans. Ocean temperatures are also extremely high in much of the tropical Pacific, where El Nino conditions "are present and forecast to further strengthen in the coming months", Copernicus said.
The current El Nino event is widely expected to be one of the strongest ever recorded. El Nino, a naturally-occurring weather pattern, typically leads to higher global temperatures. Its effects — and those of its opposite pattern, La Nina — vary across regions, but can significantly shift rainfall and temperature patterns.
