August 2026 was the warmest month ever recorded globally, with an average global surface air temperature of 16.96 °C, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).
The temperature was 0.85 °C warmer than the average for August over the period 1991 to 2020 and 1.65 °C above the estimated pre-industrial level of 1850 to 1900. August's temperature was nearly the same as the previous record set in July 2023, meaning the two months are considered the warmest months on record.
The record temperatures come amid continued human-driven global warming, while the developing El Niño phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean also contributes to the elevated temperatures. Scientists emphasise that long-term global warming, primarily due to greenhouse gas emissions, is the main driver of the current warming.
The world's oceans have meanwhile also remained extraordinarily warm. The average sea surface temperature over the non-polar oceans reached 21.07 °C in August – a record for the month. Copernicus warned that the record temperatures show how climate change is increasingly driving extremes in the atmosphere and oceans, with consequences for communities, economies and ecosystems worldwide.
Sources: Copernicus Climate Change Service, Associated Press, Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, Xinhua, Currently, Sustainability Online
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
