<\/p>\n
Reports from the European Union\u2019s Copernicus Climate Change Service, the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration confirmed the record.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said the Northern Hemisphere experienced the warmest summer on record, while the Southern Hemisphere recorded a near-record warm winter.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The global average surface air temperature during August was 1.65\u00b0C above the estimated pre-industrial level.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
US data placed the temperature at 1.32\u00b0C above the 20th-century average, making August 2026 the warmest August in records dating back to 1850.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
All 10 of the warmest Augusts have occurred since 2016.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sea surface temperatures outside the polar regions reached a daily record of 21.11\u00b0C. Marine heatwaves affected the Atlantic coast of Europe and the western Mediterranean.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Both the Arctic and Antarctic recorded below-average sea ice coverage.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Global tropical cyclone activity was also above average, with 19 tropical storms developing during August. Five reached hurricane or typhoon strength, including four classified as major systems.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Western Europe experienced further heatwaves as an exceptional period of extreme heat, which began in May, continued.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Severe drought affected France, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and the United Kingdom, while exceptionally low water levels were recorded in the Rhine, Danube, Southern Bug and Dnieper rivers.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
El Ni\u00f1o also contributed to heavy rainfall and flooding in some countries while intensifying drought and seasonal wildfires in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is now firmly established and will intensify into a very strong event in the coming months, with big impacts on rainfall and temperature patterns well into 2027,\u201d WMO said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The organisation said there was a nearly 100% probability that El Ni\u00f1o would persist through February 2027, with the event expected to reach very strong intensity before peaking towards the end of 2026.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
However, WMO cautioned that the strength of El Ni\u00f1o did not translate directly into the severity of effects in individual regions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The organisation said governments and disaster management authorities should strengthen preparedness and early-warning systems as risks of extreme temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns increase.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
WMO will present an updated assessment of global climate conditions at COP31 in Antalya, T\u00fcrkiye, in November.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":44426,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[78,26],"class_list":["post-45305","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-featured","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Earth recorded the hottest August since measurements began, with global sea surface temperatures reaching an unprecedented high as El Ni\u00f1o intensified.","published_date":"","news_description":"Earth recorded the hottest August since measurements began, with global sea surface temperatures reaching an unprecedented high as El Ni\u00f1o intensified.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/45305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/45305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45306,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/45305\/revisions\/45306"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=45305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}