Hottest summer on record could lead to the warmest year ever measured

AP Science Writer

The European climate service Copernicus says Earth just sweltered to its hottest summer on record. That makes it even more likely that this year will end up as the warmest humanity has measured. And if this sound familiar, that’s because the records the globe shattered were set just last year. Scientists say human-caused climate change, with a temporary boost from El Nino, keeps dialing up temperatures and extreme weather. And they say the fact that heat records keep coming even after El Nino has now faded shows that climate change is the main culprit. Copernicus scientists calculate that the northern meteorological summer — June, July and August — averaged 16.8 degrees Celsius (62.2 Fahrenheit). That inched past the old record set in 2023.