Global temperatures reached unprecedented highs in August, with the month surpassing records set in 2023 and 2024, according to a report released Wednesday by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).

The intensifying El Niño phenomenon across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific is contributing to this record-breaking warmth, marking a significant point in global climate data.

The planet's average surface air temperature for August was recorded at 62.5 degrees Fahrenheit. This August not only stands as the warmest on record but is also tied with July 2023 as the joint-warmest month globally in the C3S dataset, which begins in 1940. This marks the first record-breaking month for global temperatures since January 2025.

Last month also registered as the first since November 2025 to exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average, reaching 1.65 degrees Celsius. This 1.5-degree Celsius limit is a critical benchmark identified by climate scientists in the 2015 Paris Agreement to avert the most severe impacts of climate change.

Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, stated that these observations, combined with record global sea surface temperatures and the warmest summer on record for Western Europe, demonstrate how climate change is driving extreme conditions in both the atmosphere and oceans. She added that the impacts are increasingly affecting communities, economies, and ecosystems worldwide.

In the United States, a separate report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) indicated that meteorological summer (June-August) was the warmest on record, surpassing previous highs from 1936 and 2021. This period of extreme heat in the U.S. coincides with the global temperature surge.

While El Niño events are often associated with record global temperatures, climate scientists emphasize that the phenomenon is not the sole cause. These short-term El Niño-driven temperature spikes are occurring on top of a long-term global warming trend, which is predominantly driven by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.

Further data from Copernicus revealed that global sea surface temperatures reached an all-time high on August 22, with the daily average between 60 degrees south and 60 degrees north reaching 69.98 degrees Fahrenheit. Marine heatwaves have also persisted globally, underscoring the widespread impact on oceanic systems.