August was jointly the hottest month on record worldwide, according to official EU data, underscoring the worsening consequences of global warming. Politico reports, UNN writes.
Details
According to Copernicus, the EU space program's Earth observation component, the average global temperature temporarily rose 1.65 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels last month.
The only other time the average monthly global temperature reached this level was in July 2023.
Copernicus said the record temperatures were caused by "global warming driven by the burning of fossil fuels," combined with rising Pacific Ocean surface temperatures associated with the strong El Niño climate phenomenon.
Combined with the record-high global sea-surface temperature and the hottest summer on record in Western Europe, these observations show how climate change is causing extreme events in both the atmosphere and the oceans
The exceptionally hot August brought a record-breaking European summer to a close, marked by heat waves, wildfires and droughts, while planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise worldwide.
Global greenhouse gas emissions from human activity increased by 0.7% last year, reaching a record 54 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, the European Commission said on Monday. Such annual emissions levels are likely to lock in warming of 1.5 degrees by the end of the decade.
The United States led the upward trend, increasing its climate emissions by 2.2% in 2025.
In China, the world's largest climate polluter, emissions rose by 0.1% in 2025, while in India they fell by 0.2%. EU emissions also decreased by 0.2% in 2025, the Commission said.
Sea and air
Copernicus's overall figures combine air and sea-surface temperatures on a global scale.
In August, the global near-surface air temperature reached 16.96 °C — jointly the highest level on record. It was 0.85 °C above the average for the 30-year period from 1990 to 2020.
The average sea-surface temperature was 21.07 °C — also jointly the highest on record.
In Europe, August was the fourth hottest on record, with temperatures 1.1 °C above the 30-year average. Overall, 2026 was the third hottest summer on record in Europe and the hottest summer on record in Western Europe.