This summer was hot. August shattered global heat records

People cool themselves with an ice-cold water bottle from a water station during the Great American State Fair on the National Mall on July 2, 2026 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images North America hide caption

If you thought this summer felt hotter than normal, you were right. Temperatures around the world were unusually warm, surpassing several heat records, including in the U.S.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration this week announced that for the Lower 48 states, this summer– from June to August– was the warmest in 132 years of record-keeping.

Globally, August ties with July 2023 as the hottest month on record, according to the European climate service, Copernicus Climate Change Service.

In August, global temperatures exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, according to Copernicus. That's a key climate threshold agreed to by countries in 2015 . Record high sea surface temperatures were also seen across the Pacific Ocean as the climate pattern El Niño began to develop.

Francesca Guglielmo, a senior scientist at the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said while "every record is always shocking in a way," the numbers are not a surprise. It's a trend scientists have been observing for years.

"Measures need to be undertaken to try to mitigate as much as possible," Guglielmo said.

Global temperatures in August averaged 62.53 degrees Fahrenheit, Copernicus data shows.