It’s official. Meteorologists say this summer’s swelter was a global record breaker for high heat

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has declared that Earth experienced its hottest Northern Hemisphere summer on record, with August being the hottest ever recorded. The WMO and Copernicus, the European climate service, announced that August was 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial averages. The world’s oceans also reached record temperatures, with the WMO and Copernicus reporting that they were the hottest ever recorded.