August was the world’s joint hottest month on record, pushing global temperatures back above 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels

August 2026 was the joint warmest month ever recorded, tied with July 2023. Last month also saw the average sea surface temperature (SST) over the extra-polar ocean reach a record high, due to global heating from burning fossil fuels and rapidly increasing SSTs in the equatorial Pacific associated with strong El Niño conditions – as reported by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).

With a global average surface air temperature 1.65°C higher than the estimated pre-industrial baseline, this August was the first month to exceed 1.5°C since November 2025. The month saw the joint highest monthly average SST ever recorded across the extra-polar ocean*, tied with March 2024, and the highest daily global SST over the extra-polar ocean ever recorded, at 21.11ºC. Meanwhile, record high SSTs were seen across the tropical Pacific, an area where a potentially extreme El Niño event continues to intensify. The impacts of this event are already being felt over land, with conditions favouring the intensification of seasonal wildfires across Indonesia, as reported by the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS).