Climate Bulletins - August 2023

The Copernicus Climate Change Service's monthly climate bulletin is out now, including updates on August's temperatures, sea ice extent and precipitation. You can read the Climate Bulletin here.

Temperature highlights

The August temperature highlights from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).

• it was the warmest August globally at 0.71°C above average;
• multiple regions in the Northern Hemisphere experienced heatwaves;
• saw the highest global monthly average sea surface temperatures on record.

Detailed information on surface air temperature for August 2023, with data, graphs and maps, available through the climate bulletin page on the C3S website.

Sea Ice highlights

The August Sea Ice highlights from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).

• Antarctic sea ice extent remained at a record low level for the time of year, with a monthly value 12% below average, by far the largest negative anomaly for August since satellite observations began.
• Sea ice concentrations were most below-average in the northern Ross Sea and in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean sectors while above-average concentrations prevailed in the Bellingshausen–Amundsen Sea sector.
• Arctic sea ice extent was further below average than in July, at 10% below average, but well above the record minimum from August 2012.
• While most of the central Arctic Ocean saw below-average sea ice concentrations, a stretch of above-average concentrations persisted north of the Kara and Laptev Seas.

Detailed information on sea ice extent and concentration for August 2023, with data, graphs and maps, available through the climate bulletin page on the C3S website.

Hydrology highlights

The August hydrology highlights from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).

In Europe it was:

• wetter-than-average over a large part of central Europe, Scandinavia and in a longitudinal band in Eastern Europe;
• drier-than-average over the Iberian Peninsula, southern France, Iceland and much of Eastern Europe, including the southern Balkans.

Beyond Europe it was: 

• drier than average in the southern USA and Northern Mexico, in two latitudinal bands across Asia, and much of South America; 
• wetter-than-average in northeast and western North America, large regions of Asia, and in parts of Chile and Brazil.

Detailed information on precipitation, relative humidity and soil moisture for August 2023, with data, graphs and maps, available through the climate bulletin page on the C3S website.