August Tied as World's Warmest Month on Record, Data Shows

The world has experienced its joint-hottest month since records began, with August pushing the planet's average global temperature to more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, according to new data. Extreme weather and climate-related disasters raged across the globe last month. Scientists indicated that climate change likely contributed to the landslides and flash floods that claimed hundreds of lives in Nepal and China’s Tibet, though specific analyses are ongoing.

Wildfires spread from Indonesia to Greece and Belgium, while severe drought impacted Hungary and Romania. Temperatures exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial times are particularly significant, as this threshold—when calculated as a decades-long average—is the limit nearly 200 countries pledged to try to prevent under the 2015 Paris climate agreement to avoid the most severe consequences of climate change.

Data from the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) revealed that August was the first month since November 2025 in which the global average temperature surpassed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. With an average global surface air temperature of 16.96°C, last month tied with July 2023 as the world's warmest month on record. C3S noted that this was 1.65°C hotter than the planet's average temperature during the 19th century, prior to the industrial-scale burning of oil, coal, and gas.

Emissions generated from burning these fossil fuels remain the primary driver of climate change. Samantha Burgess, strategic lead at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, remarked on the tangible impacts felt across Europe, pointing to buckling train lines, melting roads, closed schools, overwhelmed hospitals, and record-breaking wildfires for this time of year. She emphasized that the narrative surrounding climate change has shifted from a distant, abstract concept to a disruption of everyday life.

The data confirmed that western Europe is emerging from its hottest summer on record, with many areas suffering from unusually low river flows and diminished soil moisture. This has compounded challenges for farmers following a series of extreme heatwaves since May that severely damaged crops.

Technically, the world has not yet breached the Paris Agreement's 1.5°C target, which evaluates multi-decade averages rather than a temporary peak. Current long-term global warming stands at approximately 1.4°C above pre-industrial levels. Last week, the UN stated that maintaining the long-term 1.5°C goal is no longer achievable, urging governments to accelerate CO2 emission cuts to limit the extent of any temperature overshoot.

C3S records extend back to 1940 and are cross-referenced with global temperature datasets originating in 1850. The extreme heat last month extended beyond land, as the world's oceans outside polar regions also recorded their joint-highest sea surface temperatures for any month on record. In the tropical Pacific, record-high temperatures were driven by the emergence of the El Nino weather pattern, which is projected to strengthen in the coming months and potentially drive global temperatures even higher.