August 2026 was hottest month in history, US agency says

Persistent El Nino conditions push sea temperatures to unprecedented levels

August 2026 was the warmest August globally since records began in 1850, driven by all-time peak ocean temperatures, according to a new report by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). August eclipsed the previous tied records of 2023 and 2024 by 0.08C, the agency said, noting that global surface temperatures averaged 1.32C above the 20th-century norm. The agency emphasized that the period marked the 48th consecutive August with global temperatures above the 20th-century average, with all 10 of the hottest Augusts occurring since 2016. The June-to-August meteorological season also registered as the warmest three-month stretch worldwide. NOAA said the Northern Hemisphere experienced its warmest summer, while the Southern Hemisphere had a near-record warm winter. Global sea surface temperatures reached an all-time high, fueled by persistent El Nino conditions across the central and eastern tropical Pacific. Land temperatures were near-record warm, while sea ice extent dropped below average across both the Arctic and Antarctic.   Contiguous US experiences warmest summer on record The contiguous US also registered its hottest summer in its 132-year historical record, surpassing previous highs set in 1936 and 2021 by 0.22C. August nationwide averaged 24.2C, ranking as the warmest August on record across the lower 48 states since 1895, while daytime maximum temperatures averaged an unprecedented 31.4C.