NOAA: August 2026 was the warmest on record
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that August 2026 was the warmest August worldwide since observations began in 1850. According to Anadolu Agency, the average global surface temperature in August was 1.32°C above the 20th-century norm.
New August record
August 2026 exceeded the previous joint August records of 2023 and 2024 by 0.08°C. It was the 48th consecutive August in which the global temperature exceeded the 20th-century average. All ten warmest Augusts have been recorded since 2016.
The period from June through August also became the warmest three-month meteorological season worldwide. In the Northern Hemisphere, it was the warmest summer, while the Southern Hemisphere recorded a winter with temperatures close to record levels.
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Ocean temperature and U.S. data
According to NOAA’s assessment, the global sea surface temperature reached a historic high. The agency linked this to persistent El Niño conditions in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Land temperature was close to record levels, while sea ice extent in the Arctic and Antarctica remained below average.
The contiguous United States experienced its hottest summer in 132 years of observations, exceeding the previous highs of 1936 and 2021 by 0.22°C. The average August temperature in the lower 48 states was 24.2°C, while the average daytime maximum temperature reached a record 31.4°C.
