\n 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.\n <\/p>\n
\n 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.\n <\/p>\n
\n The months that comprise meteorological summer \u2014 June through August \u2014 tied with the summer of 2024 for the hottest such season on record, globally.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u2600\ufe0f The CNN Weather app can tell you how hot September will be.<\/a>\n <\/p>\n \n All those broken records stem from two factors, Copernicus reported: long-term, human-caused global warming and the strengthening El Ni\u00f1o event<\/a> in the tropical Pacific. That combination has, historically, brought devastating extreme events worldwide. The last time there was a significant El Ni\u00f1o was in 2023 and 2024, and that event led to a 13-month streak of record-breaking global temperatures in Copernicus\u2019 records.\n <\/p>\n \n August may mark the start of a similar, if not even longer stretch, given the greater intensity of the ongoing El Ni\u00f1o, said Samantha Burgess, the strategic lead for climate at the Copernicus Climate Change Service.\n <\/p>\n \n El Ni\u00f1o 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.\n <\/p>\n \n 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<\/a> on record, too, beating the Dust Bowl era record of 1936 as well as 2021, which had previously been tied for the title.\n <\/p>\n \n Europe saw a series of record-shattering heat waves<\/a> this summer, along with wildfires<\/a> in places that typically do not see them, such as the UK. In the US, a series of heat domes<\/a> drifted across much of the Lower 48 states, setting up prolonged periods with record-breaking heat<\/a>, particularly across the southwestern states.\n <\/p>\n \n The fact that temperatures during August beat July\u2019s is in itself unusual, Burgess said.\n <\/p>\n \n 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\u2019s heat has only beaten July\u2019s global average temperatures four times, not including this year, Burgess said, with the most recent occurrence taking place in 1985.\n <\/p>\n \u26c5 Get CNN Weather in your inbox<\/p>\n The forecast is just the beginning. We\u2019ll\u202fsend you expert coverage and the stories behind the weather \u2014 so you always know more than just the number. Sign up for the newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n \n \u201cWe\u2019re at a real inflection point for society,\u201d Burgess said. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen catastrophic climate events around the world, and I think this summer we\u2019ve really seen the impacts hitting people everywhere.\u201d She cited a growing recognition in Europe after this blistering summer that the region is \u201cmaladapted to our current climate.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cOne of the key takeaways is that the warmer our background climate is, the more intense, more frequent, and more long-lasting the extremes are,\u201d Burgess said.\n <\/p>\n \n 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\u2019s long-term 1.5-degree climate target<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n