In July 2026, the temperature of the world’s oceans reached the highest level in the entire history of observations, setting a new record.
Sea-news.az reports that statistics provided by Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service state that the average sea surface temperature, excluding polar zones, rose to 20.96°C. For comparison, this figure was 20.89°C in July 2023. The temperature increase was accompanied by sharp marine heatwaves, particularly in the coastal zones of the Atlantic Ocean and the western part of the Mediterranean Sea.
In July 2026, surface air temperature was only 0.01°C lower compared to the same month in 2024. Scientists assess both periods as the second-hottest Julies in history.
Between June and July, the average temperature in Western Europe rose 2.79°C above normal, reaching 21.62°C. Extreme drought caused large-scale forest fires in the Mediterranean basin, as well as a sharp drop in water levels in important navigation arteries such as the Seine, Rhine, and Danube rivers. Researchers attribute the thermal anomalies to global climate change and do not rule out that temperatures will rise even further in the coming period under the influence of the El Niño natural phenomenon.
