Oceans Hit Record 20.96°C in July, Copernicus Says
SkimNews Take
A July ocean record means the Atlantic hurricane peak and Mediterranean fire season will unfold atop an already-elevated thermal baseline, so the worst terrestrial impacts typically arrive months after headlines like these fade.
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- Copernicus Climate Change Service reported global ocean surface temperatures between 60°N and 60°S hit a record 20.96°C in July, breaking the previous high of 20.89°C set in 2023.
- Copernicus also recorded July as the joint second-warmest July globally on record, at 1.47°C above the estimated pre-industrial average, with the world already about 1.4°C warmer than the late 19th century.
- El Niño conditions developing in the tropical Pacific are forecast to strengthen in coming months, with scientists warning they may temporarily push global temperatures even higher against a backdrop of fossil-fuel-driven warming.
- Western Europe experienced its hottest June and July on record, with a two-month average of 21.62°C — 2.79°C above average — fueling massive wildfires, with France, Spain, parts of Germany, and the UK recording exceptionally low rainfall and soil moisture.
- The UK recorded its driest July since records began 190 years ago, with large parts of England and all of Wales officially declared in drought and the Environment Agency warning more areas could follow if dry conditions persist.
- Marine heatwaves have bleached coral reefs on a mass scale and decimated kelp forests and fisheries, while thermal expansion from warming seawater accounts for roughly one-third of recorded sea level rise, says the article.
- Samantha Burgess of the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts said climate change is intensifying heat extremes, with heat and drought "increasingly reinforcing one another" as persistent high-pressure systems trap heat and dry soils reduce natural cooling.
Why it matters: July 2026 was the third consecutive month of exceptional heat in Western Europe, and the Met Office's Mike Kendon said "the climate of the 20th century has now gone." With El Niño forecast to strengthen and the world already 1.4°C above pre-industrial levels, rivers like the Seine, Rhine, and Danube are at exceptionally low levels, straining water supplies, irrigation, energy production, and river transport simultaneously.
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