August 2026 joint warmest month ever; UN official calls it ‘price of fossil fuel addiction’

New Delhi: August 2026 was the joint warmest month ever recorded, tied with July 2023, the European climate observatory Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Thursday.It stated that the global average surface air temperature during the month was 1.65 degrees Celsius higher than the estimated pre-industrial baseline. The monthly global average temperature crossed 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average for the first time since November 2025.

The key reasons for high temperatures were global warming triggered by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions released from fossil fuel burning, and prevailing El Nino conditions over the tropical Pacific.In a statement, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said, “Until humanity stops burning colossal amounts of coal, oil and gas, the pollution this causes will keep baking our planet, and extreme heat will keep smashing records, killing millions and costing trillions, hitting transport and health systems, and pushing up prices for household basics like food.”

“The evidence is irrefutable: this is the spiralling price of humanity’s fossil fuel addiction, and the global climate crisis it is fueling,” he added.The C3S also highlighted that this year’s August saw the average sea surface temperature (SST) outside the polar regions reach a record high of 21.07 degrees Celsius, surpassing the previous August record of 20.98 degrees Celsius set in 2023. The observatory noted that a strong El Nino was developing over the tropical Pacific, adding further warmth to an ocean that had already been warming over many decades as a result of human-driven climate change.