August was hottest ever recorded, third straight month to set record

FILE PHOTO: People drink cold water outside the Emergency Aid Coalition during a heat wave in Houston, Texas, U.S., August 25, 2023. REUTERS/Adrees Latif/File Photo

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Last month was the hottest August on record globally, the third straight month in a row to set such a record following the hottest ever June and July, the European Union's Copernicus climate change panel said on Wednesday.

August is estimated to have been around 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter than the pre-industrial average for the 1850-1900 period. Pursuing efforts to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius is a central pledge of the Paris international climate change agreement adopted by 196 countries in 2015.