Earth had its hottest August in a 175-year record

August 2024 was Earth’s hottest August in NOAA’s 175-year climate record.

The sweltering month was also the 15th month in a row of record-warm months, and wrapped up the Northern Hemisphere’s warmest meteorological summer on record, according to scientists and data from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information.

Here are highlights from NOAA’s latest monthly global climate report:

Climate by the numbers

August 2024

The average global land and ocean surface temperature in August was 2.29 degrees F (1.27 degrees C) above the 20th-century average of 60.1 degrees F (15.6 degrees C), ranking as the warmest August in the global climate record. This August marks the 15th-consecutive month of record-high global temperatures—which is itself a record streak.

Europe and Oceania had their warmest August on record, Asia saw its second-warmest, and Africa and North America each had their third-warmest August.

Season (June–August 2024) | Year-to-date (YTD, January–August 2024)

June–August 2024 was the Northern Hemisphere’s hottest meteorological summer on record, at 2.74 degrees F (1.52 degrees C) above average. The season, which also marks the Southern Hemisphere’s winter, was the Southern Hemisphere’s warmest winter on record at 1.73 degrees F (0.96 of a degree C) above average.

Globally, the YTD ranked as the warmest such YTD ever recorded, at 2.30 degrees F (1.28 degrees C) above the 20th-century average of 57.3 degrees F (14.0 degrees C). According to NCEI’s Global Annual Temperature Outlook, there is a 97% chance that 2024 will rank as the world’s warmest year on record.

Other notable climate events

Sea ice extent continued to run low: Global sea ice extent (coverage) was the second-smallest in the 46-year record, at 8.32 million square miles, which was 1.05 million square miles below the 1991–2020 average. The Arctic sea ice extent was below average, ranking fourth-lowest on record; while the Antarctic extent was also below average, ranking second-lowest on record.

Tropics saw an average August: Fifteen named storms spun across the globe in August, which was near the 1991–2020 average. The Atlantic basin saw two tropical cyclones during August: Debby, a Category 1 hurricane that made landfall in Florida, and Ernesto, a Category 2 hurricane that made landfall in Bermuda. The East Pacific saw seven tropical cyclones, which is significantly above average, the West Pacific saw five cyclones and the North Indian Ocean saw one.