Wildfires are burning in North America and Europe. Deadly heatwaves are suffocating cities and the world's oceans are the hottest ever recorded for this time of year. A strengthening El Niño is forecast to be off-the-charts, spiking global temperatures and warping weather all over.
While it may seem like the planet is baking through a record-shattering summer from hell, it's not quite in record territory – yet.
So far this is only the third-hottest year, behind 2024 and 2025, climate statistics show. But give 2026 time. Due to accelerated human-caused global warming and a supersized El Niño, there's an increasing chance that by the end of the year, 2026 could become the hottest year on record, eclipsing 2024 – or at least come close, scientists say.
Even if this year sets the record, it won't last long. Although scientists disagree on whether 2026 will be the hottest year on record, they agree on it being a near lock that 2027 will beat out any modern year for heat, maybe by a great deal.
With wars around the globe in the last few years, people didn't pay much attention to climate change "because the world was on fire in different ways. The world is now on fire again with climate change in a way that’s increasingly difficult to ignore,” says climate scientist Zeke Hausfather of climate data nonprofit Berkeley Earth. “It's going to keep getting worse.''
