London, 9 September (Argus) — Last month was the third-warmest August on record, with a global average temperature of 16.60°C, 0.49°C higher than the 1991-2020 August average, data from EU earth-monitoring programme Copernicus show.
The average global temperature in August was 1.29°C higher than the 1850-1900 average — the timeframe used by scientists to define an average pre-industrial temperature — Copernicus found. The 12 month period of September 2024-August 2025 was 0.64°C higher than the 1991-2020 average, and 1.52°C above the pre-industrial average. The Paris climate agreement seeks to limit the global rise in temperature to “well below” 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and pursues a 1.5°C limit.
The past three warmest Augusts on record have occurred in 2023, 2024 and 2025, while the global average temperature for this year’s boreal summer — June-August — follows the same pattern, Copernicus data show. The global average temperature for the boreal summer was the third highest on record, at 0.47°C above the 1991-2020 average, and only the boreal summers of 2023 and 2024 surpassed it. International weather and science agencies found that 2024 was the hottest year on record, smashing the record set in 2023.
Several oceans around the world remained “usually warm”, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts’ strategic lead for climate Samantha Burgess said. Sea surface temperatures were well above average in much of the North Pacific, and were at all-time highs in parts of the North Atlantic, Copernicus data show. Oceans capture CO2 emissions and absorb the vast majority of excess heat generated by those emissions.
Recent temperature extremes — including multiple heatwaves in Europe this summer — “underline… the urgency of reducing emissions but also the critical need to adapt to more frequent and intense climate extremes”, Burgess said.
By Georgia Gratton
