August 2026 Was the Hottest Month Ever Recorded: Copernicus Data
August 2026 Was the Hottest Month Ever Recorded: Copernicus Data
2026年8月是有记录以来最热的一个月：哥白尼气候监测数据
August was the planet’s hottest month ever recorded, capping a remarkably grim summer of heat records. With El Niño strengthening—and climate change continuing to heat things up—more records are likely in store well into next year. 8月是地球有记录以来最热的一个月，为这个充满高温纪录、极其严峻的夏天画上了句号。随着厄尔尼诺现象的增强，加之气候变化持续推高气温，预计到明年，更多的纪录可能会被打破。
Data from Copernicus, the European Union’s climate agency, shows that last month tied with July 2023 for Earth’s hottest month. (July is also usually the hottest month of the year.) This July also tied with July 2024 for the second-hottest July on record, while June 2026 was the second-hottest June ever recorded. The news comes on the heels of a separate announcement on Wednesday from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which declared this was the hottest summer for the US, beating a previous record set during the Dust Bowl. 欧盟气候监测机构“哥白尼气候变化服务局”的数据显示，上个月与2023年7月并列成为地球上最热的月份（7月通常也是一年中最热的月份）。今年7月还与2024年7月并列成为有记录以来第二热的7月，而2026年6月则是史上第二热的6月。在此消息发布前，美国国家海洋和大气管理局（NOAA）周三也宣布，今年是美国有记录以来最热的夏天，打破了“尘暴时期”（Dust Bowl）创下的历史纪录。
The sweltering summer is a grim sign of how burning fossil fuels is pushing temperatures up around the globe while unleashing more intense and longer heat waves. 这个酷热的夏天是一个严峻的信号，表明燃烧化石燃料正在推高全球气温，并引发了强度更大、持续时间更长的热浪。
“August 2026 was a remarkable month in the global climate record,” Samantha Burgess, the strategic lead for climate at the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, said in a statement. “Combined with record global sea surface temperatures and the warmest summer on record for Western Europe, these observations show how climate change is driving extremes across both the atmosphere and the oceans. The impacts of these conditions are increasingly being felt by communities, economies, and ecosystems across the world.” 欧洲中期天气预报中心气候战略负责人萨曼莎·伯吉斯（Samantha Burgess）在一份声明中表示：“2026年8月在全球气候记录中是一个非同寻常的月份。结合全球海面温度创下纪录以及西欧有记录以来最热的夏天，这些观测结果表明，气候变化正在如何驱动大气和海洋的极端天气。世界各地的社区、经济体和生态系统正日益感受到这些状况带来的影响。”
The global average temperature for August was 1.65 degrees Celsius (3 degrees Fahrenheit) above the preindustrial average, according to Copernicus. While it was hot globally this summer, the impacts played out with dangerous and sometimes deadly results locally. 据哥白尼气候监测机构统计，8月份全球平均气温比工业化前平均水平高出1.65摄氏度（3华氏度）。尽管今年夏天全球普遍高温，但其在局部地区造成的影响却是危险的，有时甚至是致命的。
Researchers estimate that as many as 35,000 people died during heat waves in Germany, France, and Spain this summer. Record-breaking fires also raged across parts of Europe, unleashing the first documented fire cloud in France and threatening a key NASA observatory in Spain. In North America, wildfires in Canada and northern parts of the US filled areas across the Northeast with smoke. 研究人员估计，今年夏天德国、法国和西班牙的热浪导致多达3.5万人死亡。破纪录的火灾也在欧洲部分地区肆虐，法国出现了有记录以来的首个火积云，西班牙的一个关键NASA天文台也受到威胁。在北美，加拿大和美国北部的野火导致美国东北部大片地区被烟雾笼罩。
Climate change has boosted background temperatures, but the El Niño roiling the eastern Pacific Ocean has piled on more heat. El Niños usually coincide with a temporary uptick in global temperature from 0.1 to 0.2 degrees Celsius. This year’s El Niño is forecast to reach record strength and upend weather around the globe. But the full impact on the planet’s temperature won’t be felt until next year, meaning that next summer may be even hotter than the one we just lived through. 气候变化推高了基础气温，而搅动东太平洋的厄尔尼诺现象则进一步加剧了高温。厄尔尼诺现象通常伴随着全球气温0.1到0.2摄氏度的暂时性上升。据预测，今年的厄尔尼诺现象将达到创纪录的强度，并扰乱全球天气。但其对地球气温的全面影响要到明年才会显现，这意味着明年夏天可能会比我们刚刚经历的这个夏天更热。
Climate scientists have warned that the world needs to prevent long-term average warming from breaching 1.5 degrees Celsius to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. While temperatures above the threshold for a single month don’t represent a permanent breach of this temperature, they’re a sign that the world is getting closer to this benchmark. 气候科学家警告称，世界需要防止长期平均升温超过1.5摄氏度，以避免气候变化带来的最严重影响。虽然单月气温超过这一阈值并不代表永久性突破，但它们是一个信号，表明世界正越来越接近这一临界点。
Earlier this month, the UN warned in a report that the world is likely to cross the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold in a few years. To slow and eventually reverse the rise in global temperatures, the world needs to stop burning fossil fuels and lower carbon emissions. 本月早些时候，联合国在一份报告中警告称，世界很可能在几年内突破1.5摄氏度的阈值。为了减缓并最终扭转全球气温上升的趋势，世界必须停止燃烧化石燃料并降低碳排放。
“This summer’s scorching heat, raging wildfires, and deadly floods are a warning of what lies ahead,” UN Secretary-General Antőnio Guterres said in a statement. “We must make the overshoot above 1.5 degrees as small and short as possible. That demands an overshoot of ambition.” 联合国秘书长安东尼奥·古特雷斯（António Guterres）在声明中表示：“今年夏天酷热的高温、肆虐的野火和致命的洪水，是对未来局势的警告。我们必须尽可能缩小并缩短超过1.5摄氏度的时间。这需要我们拿出超越以往的雄心壮志。”