2026 could beat 2024 as hottest year, scientists say
The heat waves roiling Western Europe this summer toppled an average temperature record for the June-July period set in 2022, according to the European climate agency Copernicus.
The extreme heat began in May and has contributed to major wildfires, prolonged drought and new national temperature records across the region, as well as thousands of projected heat-related deaths.
Globally, so far this is the third-hottest year, behind 2024 and 2025, climate statistics show. But 2026 still has time to catch up.
Scientists said there is an increasing chance that by the end of the year, 2026 could become the hottest year on record, beating out 2024 — or at least come close.
The outlook reflects the one-two punch of accelerated human-caused global warming and a supersized El Niño, scientists said. El Niño is a periodic warming of parts of the Pacific that leads to temperature variations around the globe.