Climate News
August 2026 ties July 2023 as the hottest month ever recorded, Copernicus says
August 2026 was the joint hottest month ever recorded worldwide, tying with July 2023, the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service said on 10 September. The Guardian reported that global temperatures were 1.65C above pre-industrial levels, and that sea surface temperatures were the highest on record for August. These temperatures were recorded before the developing El Niño had had much effect.
The data came out as Simon Stiell, the UN's climate chief, spoke to a European parliament committee. He said this year's summer had killed tens of thousands of people in Europe alone and was likely to have cost about €180bn.
"The climate crisis is now a continent-wide economic security emergency." — Simon Stiell, UN climate chief, via The Guardian
How each outlet framed it
- The Guardian — the data alongside Stiell's warning against turning climate into a "culture war".
- Down To Earth — the Indian environment magazine reported the Copernicus finding as a "joint" record.
- Euronews — the European angle: the world's joint hottest month, as reported by Copernicus.
- Il Sole 24 Ore — the Italian business daily's English edition used the simpler headline: the hottest month on record.
Meaning and limits: Prof Friederike Otto of Imperial College London told The Guardian that El Niño was starting to add heat, but that burning fossil fuels "remains" the underlying driver. One month tying a record does not set the long-term trend. Copernicus's warning is that more heat is still to come, as El Niño is expected to reach full strength towards the end of the year.
What we don't know yet: whether the coming months will break the record outright as El Niño strengthens.