Scientists Say August 2026 Was Earth's Hottest Month on Record
The European climate service Copernicus reported that August 2026 was Earth's hottest month ever recorded, averaging 16.96 degrees Celsius (62.53 degrees Fahrenheit) globally — effectively tied with the previous all-time record set in July 2023. August was 1.65 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, surpassing the 1.5-degree Celsius threshold set by the 2015 Paris climate agreement. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also confirmed that summer 2026 in the contiguous United States was the hottest on record, surpassing the Dust Bowl summer of 1936.
Copernicus, the European Union's climate monitoring service, announced on Wednesday that August 2026 set or tied the all-time global temperature record, with the world averaging 16.96 degrees Celsius — one-hundredth of a degree above the previous mark set in July 2023, within the margin of uncertainty. Samantha Burgess, strategic climate lead for Copernicus, said that because the difference falls within the uncertainty range, the two months are considered a tie.
The eight hottest months on record have all occurred since July 2023, according to Copernicus data, which extends back to 1940. Global ocean temperatures in August also tied a March 2024 record for warmest ocean month, while August 22 set a single-day record for the hottest seas ever measured. NOAA data, which goes back to 1880 for global records and 1895 for U.S. records, broadly corroborates Copernicus findings.
NOAA reported that June through August 2026 in the Lower 48 states averaged 74.37 degrees Fahrenheit (23.54 Celsius), nearly four-tenths of a degree warmer than the previous U.S. summer record set in 1936. August alone averaged 75.58 degrees Fahrenheit in the U.S., with an average daytime high of 88.56 degrees — both records. Burgess noted that records dating back nearly 100 years were broken, particularly in the United States.