Global August Heat Hits Record for Second Year in a Row

Global August Heat Hits Record for Second Year in a Row

According to preliminary data from the EU’s climate monitor, the world experienced record average temperatures in August for the second year in a row. While the exact figure for August 2024 is not yet confirmed, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) has already indicated it will surpass last year’s record of 16.82°C (62.28°F).

Scientists attribute these unprecedented temperatures largely to human-driven climate change, which is intensifying extreme weather events. Australia, Japan, several Chinese provinces, and Norway’s Svalbard Arctic archipelago all reported their hottest August on record, according to various meteorological agencies.

This continues a nearly unbroken 15-month trend where each month set a new temperature record for its time of year, according to C3S. Although July 2024 was slightly cooler than July 2023 according to C3S, the US NOAA weather agency still considers it the hottest month on record.

Regardless, 2023 was the warmest year on record since the 19th century, as noted by various climate monitors. At the start of August, C3S had already warned that 2024 was “increasingly likely” to surpass this. They reported that July 2024 was 1.48°C (34.66°F) warmer than the average temperatures during 1850-1900, before the world’s rapid increase in fossil fuel consumption — the main driver of climate change.

Climate researchers believe that such high temperatures haven't been seen in at least 120,000 years, based on studies of the period before modern meteorological instruments were available.