Energy & Science
Extreme Heat Made August the Fourth-Warmest on Record
Parts of the U.S. and Mexico experienced above-average temperatures, and the year appears likely to finish near the top for heat.
The sun obscured by smoke from wildfires in Sonoma County, California, on Aug. 22, 2020.
Photographer: Philip Pacheco/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
August 2020 will go down as the fourth-warmest on record worldwide, with above average summertime heat in the U.S. and Mexico tempered slightly by below average temperatures in parts of the Southern Hemisphere.
Global temperatures for the month spiked around 0.9 degrees Celsius above the historical average, according to a new report by Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. That reading came in lower than the summers of 2018 and 2019, the agency said in a statement.