August Joins July 2023 as Hottest Month on Record, Driven by Climate Change and El Niño
August was the joint-hottest month ever recorded, tying with July 2023, according to the EU's climate service.
By Matt McGrath, Environment Correspondent
Published 5 hours ago
The EU's climate service revealed that August's temperatures were 1.65C above pre-industrial levels, surpassing the critical 1.5C threshold agreed upon by countries to avoid the most severe consequences of climate change. While a single month above this limit doesn't imply permanent crossing, it indicates a trend towards breaching this boundary.
Dr Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at Copernicus, described August as "a remarkable month in the global climate record" and highlighted the increasing frequency of climate extremes globally.
World's oceans hit highest temperature on record
UN climate chief Simon Stiell emphasized the clear evidence of humanity's impact on the climate: "The evidence is irrefutable: this is the spiralling price of humanity’s fossil fuel addiction, and the global climate crisis it is fuelling."
El Niño, a natural climate pattern characterized by unusually warm ocean temperatures in the eastern Pacific, is exacerbating these conditions. The current El Niño is expected to strengthen further, potentially making it one of the most powerful on record, according to researchers. This could lead to more record-breaking global temperature in the coming year.
The summer of 2023 was also marked as the warmest on record for western Europe, with intense heatwaves contributing to a series of severe weather events including disruptions to schools and hospitals, reduced food production, wildfires, droughts, and the loss of tens of thousands of lives. As Dr Clair Barnes from Imperial College London points out, "These records will continue to tumble, and the extremes will worsen faster than we are able to adapt".
Additional reporting by Erwan Rivault