August Recorded as Hottest Month Ever Due to Climate Change and El Niño

Global Temperature Records and Copernicus Data

Last month’s global average temperature was one-hundredth of a degree Celsius higher than the previous July 2023 record, a margin within the agency’s uncertainty level that constitutes a statistical tie, according to Samantha Burgess, strategic climate lead for Copernicus. Globally, August temperatures reached 1.65 C above pre-industrial levels, exceeding the 1.5 C threshold established by the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

Copernicus data shows that the eight hottest months on record have all occurred from July 2023 onward. “Our climate system is really operating well outside the range we would have expected just a decade ago,” Burgess said.

Texas A&M University climate scientist Andrew Dessler noted in an email that the warming trend matches decades-old scientific forecasts. “It is now time to stop acting surprised that our warming planet keeps getting warmer. This is occurring exactly as forecast by scientists literally decades ago,” Dessler said. “The interesting question is not whether we will keep breaking heat records (we will), but whether we’re going to do anything about it or just stand there while the climate train runs us over.”

Regional Impacts Across the United States and Europe

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that for the first time on record, summer in the contiguous 48 states was hotter than during the peak of the devastating Dust Bowl in 1936.

Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist with Berkeley Earth, noted that frequent record-breaking alongside August surpassing July — typically the warmer month — to establish a historic peak indicates that anthropogenic climate change is speeding up.

Across the Atlantic, western Europe endured a deadly heat wave through August. As the hot conditions spread eastward throughout the continent, a specialist cautioned that Switzerland’s glaciers are poised to suffer severe ice loss as a result of the heat wave.

“We’ve transitioned from climate being very abstract and perhaps impacting the Global South or faraway places to climate impacting and disrupting our daily lives with schools closing, hospitals being overwhelmed, roads melting, train lines buckling,” Burgess said.

Marine Temperatures and Ocean Records

Ocean temperatures mirrored the atmospheric heat. Data from Copernicus revealed that worldwide ocean temperatures for August matched the all-time high set in March 2024 for the warmest month ever measured, while Aug. 22 established a new peak for the highest daily temperature across the globe’s oceans.

While the temporary natural Pacific warming pattern known as El Niño contributed to the elevated temperatures, scientists emphasized that heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels remain the primary driver of the long-term warming trend.

United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell warned that nations must reject climate culture wars or face economic ruin. Stiell emphasized that unless humanity ceases the large-scale burning of coal, oil, and gas, the resulting emissions will persistently warm the globe and cause extreme temperatures to continually shatter historical benchmarks, leading to widespread fatalities and immense financial losses.

Next Steps

Copernicus and international climate monitoring agencies continue tracking global temperature anomalies as the El Niño pattern evolves, with member states awaiting upcoming official assessments on autumn greenhouse gas concentrations and seasonal forecasts.