If August felt like the hottest month on Earth … you’re right

Earth just had its hottest August on record and tied the benchmark for the hottest month ever recorded since at least 1940, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, a European climate monitoring agency.

The global average temperature during August was 62.53 degrees Fahrenheit (16.96 Celsius), which was 1.53 degrees Fahrenheit (0.85 Celsius) above the 1991 to 2020 average. The record - hot month was driven partly by ocean temperatures that were, themselves, reaching record highs. Global sea surface temperatures tied the record for warmest monthly average logged in any month.

The months that comprise meteorological summer — June through August — tied with the summer of 2024 for the hottest such season on record, globally.

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All those broken records stem from two factors, Copernicus reported: long-term, human-caused global warming and the strengthening El Niño event in the tropical Pacific. That combination has, historically, brought devastating extreme events worldwide. The last time there was a significant El Niño was in 2023 and 2024, and that event led to a 13-month streak of record-breaking global temperatures in Copernicus’ records.

August may mark the start of a similar, if not even longer stretch, given the greater intensity of the ongoing El Niño, said Samantha Burgess, the strategic lead for climate at the Copernicus Climate Change Service.

El Niño events feature hotter-than-average sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific that help drive numerous changes in weather patterns. That has certainly been the case this year.

Western Europe saw its hottest summer on record, blowing away previous benchmarks, Copernicus data shows. And according to a separate release on Wednesday from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the US also saw its hottest summer on record, too, beating the Dust Bowl era record of 1936 as well as 2021, which had previously been tied for the title.

Europe saw a series of record-shattering heat waves this summer, along with wildfires in places that typically do not see them, such as the UK. In the US, a series of heat domes drifted across much of the Lower 48 states, setting up prolonged periods with record-breaking heat , particularly across the southwestern states.

The fact that temperatures during August beat July’s is in itself unusual, Burgess said.

It is rare for August to be hotter than July when it comes to global average temperatures, since typically July is when the planet sees its hottest weather. In fact, since 1940, August’s heat has only beaten July’s global average temperatures four times, not including this year, Burgess said, with the most recent occurrence taking place in 1985.

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“We’re at a real inflection point for society,” Burgess said. “We’ve seen catastrophic climate events around the world, and I think this summer we’ve really seen the impacts hitting people everywhere.” She cited a growing recognition in Europe after this blistering summer that the region is “maladapted to our current climate.”

“One of the key takeaways is that the warmer our background climate is, the more intense, more frequent, and more long-lasting the extremes are,” Burgess said.

The global average surface air temperature was 2.97 degrees Fahrenheit (1.65 Celsius) above the preindustrial average, marking the first time since November of last year that any month had exceeded the Paris Agreement’s long-term 1.5-degree climate target .

In a report released last week, the United Nations Environment Program found that over the long-term, that aspirational temperature target is likely to be exceeded, given the lack of steep cuts to planet-warming climate pollution.

Previous research has shown that the odds of potentially catastrophic climate impacts increase the greater that warming exceeds that 1.5-degree mark.

据欧洲气候监测机构哥白尼气候变化服务中心称，地球刚刚经历了有记录以来最热的八月，并追平了自至少 1940 年以来有记录以来最热月份的基准。

8月份全球平均气温为62.53华氏度（16.96摄氏度），比1991年至2020年的平均气温高出1.53华氏度（0.85摄氏度）。这个创纪录的高温月份部分原因是海洋温度本身也达到了历史新高。全球海面温度与有记录以来的最高月平均温度持平。

从气象学角度来看，夏季（6 月至 8 月）与 2024 年夏季并列成为全球有记录以来最热的夏季。

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哥白尼计划报告称，所有这些破纪录的现象都源于两个因素：长期人为造成的全球变暖以及热带太平洋地区厄尔尼诺现象的加剧。历史上，这两种因素的结合曾给全球带来毁灭性的极端天气事件。上一次出现显著的厄尔尼诺现象是在2023年和2024年，那次事件导致哥白尼计划记录中连续13个月全球气温屡创新高。

哥白尼气候变化服务中心气候战略负责人萨曼莎·伯吉斯表示，鉴于目前厄尔尼诺现象的强度更大，8 月可能标志着类似甚至更长时期的开始。

厄尔尼诺现象是指热带太平洋海面温度高于平均水平，从而引发多种天气模式变化。今年的情况正是如此。

哥白尼计划的数据显示，西欧经历了有记录以来最热的夏季，打破了以往的纪录。而根据美国国家海洋和大气管理局周三发布的另一份报告，美国也经历了有记录以来最热的夏季，不仅超过了1936年“尘暴”时期的纪录，也超过了此前并列纪录的2021年。

今年夏天，欧洲遭遇了一系列破纪录的热浪，一些通常不会发生野火的地区，例如英国，也出现了野火。在美国，一系列热穹顶席卷了除阿拉斯加和夏威夷以外的大部分地区，导致持续高温，尤其是在西南部各州，高温天气屡创新高。

伯吉斯说，8 月份气温高于 7 月份气温本身就是一件不寻常的事情。

就全球平均气温而言，8 月份气温高于 7 月份的情况实属罕见，因为通常情况下，7 月份是全球最热的月份。事实上，自 1940 年以来，8 月份的全球平均气温只有四次超过 7 月份的平均气温（不包括今年），伯吉斯说，最近一次发生在 1985 年。

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“我们正处于社会的一个真正转折点，”伯吉斯说。“我们已经目睹了世界各地发生的灾难性气候事件，我认为今年夏天我们真正看到了这些事件对世界各地人们的影响。”她指出，经历了今年酷暑之后，欧洲越来越意识到该地区“不适应当前的气候”。

伯吉斯说：“其中一个关键结论是，我们的背景气候越温暖，极端天气就越强烈、越频繁、持续时间就越长。”

全球平均地表气温比工业化前平均水平高出 2.97 华氏度（1.65 摄氏度），这是自去年 11 月以来首次有月份超过了《巴黎协定》设定的长期气候目标 1.5 摄氏度。

联合国环境规划署上周发布的一份报告指出，鉴于未能大幅削减导致全球变暖的气候污染，从长远来看，这一雄心勃勃的温度目标很可能被超越。

先前的研究表明，气温升高超过 1.5 摄氏度后，发生灾难性气候影响的可能性就越大。