Geneva, Switzerland – The Earth experienced the hottest summer on record in the Northern Hemisphere this year with a record high August, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a specialized UN agency.

Last month was not only the hottest August ever recorded by scientists with modern equipment, but also the second hottest month behind the previous month, July 2023, the WMO and European climate service Copernicus said on Wednesday.

August was about 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than the pre-industrial average.

Water in the world’s oceans, which make up more than 70% of the Earth’s surface, was the warmest on record, reaching nearly 21 degrees Celsius, the third consecutive month of high temperatures.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote in a statement that “climate degradation has begun.”

So far, 2023 is the second hottest year, after 2016, according to Copernicus.

Scientists attribute human-caused global warming to the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas, as well as an additional influx of the natural El Niño, a temporary warming of parts of the Pacific Ocean that changes weather around the world. Normally, the El Nino phenomenon that started this year adds extra heat to global temperatures, but more so in the second year.