August Was World's Joint-Hottest Month On Record, Scientists Say

August tied with July 2023 as the joint-hottest month ever recorded, driven by climate change and El Nino. Temperatures reached 1.65C above pre-industrial levels, exceeding the 1.5C threshold. This period marked western Europe's warmest summer. Meanwhile, California survived its own hottest August on record without requiring Flex Alerts. This stability was achieved through a significant expansion in battery energy storage, which dramatically increased the resiliency of the state's electrical grid during the extreme heat.