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World’s seas hit hottest July on record, scientists say

scienceAug 10, 202614681

Average global sea surface temperature outside the polar regions reached a record high for July, beating the previous July peak set in 2023, the EU Copernicus climate service reported. Copernicus found record July sea surface temperatures on the Atlantic coast and in the western Mediterranean, where severe marine heatwaves raged as western Europe suffered exceptional land heat. Global surface air temperatures in July 2026 were 0.01C cooler than July 2024, leaving the two months tied as the joint-second warmest Julys on record. Copernicus said the first two months of summer 2026 were 2.79C hotter than usual, and Samantha Burgess of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts said persistent high-pressure systems trapped heat, amplifying drought as soils lost their natural cooling. The heat and drought have had concrete impacts: more than 10,000 deaths are expected from late June’s brutal heat in Europe, two coal-fired power plants in Poland and Hungary’s only nuclear plant shut due to cooling-water shortages, and early estimates put June crop losses at about 2 billion euros. Economists warn longer-term drought damage can far outstrip short-term losses, citing a working paper that found the 2015, 18 European mega-drought cost about 439 billion euros in total economic impacts.

David Ho
@davidho.bsky.social

The ocean has absorbed more than 90% of the heat from global warming. Is anyone surprised that ocean temperatures are higher than ever recorded?

43245d ago
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