Summer has been hottest on record, UN says

The world has endured its hottest summer on record, smashing the previous highs after two of the warmest months ever recorded, according to the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization.

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Temperatures in August were by far the hottest ever seen in August, making it the second warmest month recorded behind only July 2023, according to WMO and the European climate service Copernicus. Estimates from the groups put the average temperature for August at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial levels.

Usually, global average temperature records are broken by hundredths of a degree, CNN reported.

“Our planet has just endured a season of simmering — the hottest summer on record,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said Wednesday in a statement. “Climate breakdown has begun.”

Officials said that so far, 2023 is the second hottest year on record, falling just behind temperatures seen in 2016, when a powerful El Niño ratcheted up the heat. Carlos Bueontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, noted that the extreme temperatures and record-breaking weather conditions “are a clear consequence of the warming of the climate system.”

According to WMO and Copernicus, August saw unprecedentedly high sea surface temperatures and record lows for sea ice in Antarctica.

“Antarctic sea ice extent was literally off the charts, and the global sea surface temperature was once again at a new record,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a statement. “It is worth noting that this is happening BEFORE we see the full warming impact of the El Niño event, which typically plays out in the second year after it develops.”

Scientists have blamed the high heat on human-caused climate change and a natural El Niño that began warming parts of the Pacific Ocean earlier this year, The Associated Press reported. Typically, the phenomenon amps up global temperatures.

Scientists estimate that temperatures across the globe are warmer now than they have been in about 120,000 years, NPR reported. The news network reported that Earth has seen higher heat, but that such temperatures predated human civilization.

Not everyone believes the evidence supporting human-caused climate change. Last month, the Pew Research Center found that 14% of Americans believe there is no solid evidence that climate change is happening while 26% believe that higher heat is mostly due to natural patterns. Fourteen percent of respondents said they were unsure of the evidence, according to Pew.

On Wednesday, Guterres urged world leaders to take measure to address climate change in light of the recent numbers.

“Scientists have long warned what our fossil fuel addiction will unleash,” he said. “Surging temperatures demand a surge in action. Leaders must turn up the heat now for climate solutions. We can still avoid the worst of climate chaos – and we don’t have a moment to lose.”