THE “climate breakdown has begun,” the UN secretary-general said today as the northern hemisphere hit record temperatures in August, capping a season of brutal and deadly temperatures.

This comes as the World Meteorological Organisation and the European climate service reported that last month was not only by far the hottest August scientists have ever recorded with modern equipment, it was also the second hottest month ever measured, behind only July 2023.

August was about 1.5°C warmer than pre-industrial averages, which is the warming threshold that the world is trying not to pass. 

The world’s oceans, which account for more than 70 per cent of Earth’s surface, were the hottest ever recorded at nearly 21°C, setting high temperature marks for three consecutive months, the WMO and Copernicus said.

“The dog days of summer are not just barking, they are biting,” United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres said in a statement.

“Climate breakdown has begun.”

So far, 2023 is the second hottest year on record, behind 2016, according to Copernicus.

Scientists blame human-caused climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas with an extra push from a natural El Nino, which is a temporary warming of parts of the Pacific Ocean that changes weather worldwide. 

“What we are observing, not only new extremes but the persistence of these record-breaking conditions, and the impacts these have on both people and planet, are a clear consequence of the warming of the climate system,” Copernicus Climate Change service director Carlo Buontempo said.

This comes as the first African Climate Summit wrapped up today with a call for world leaders to rally behind a global carbon tax on fossil fuels, aviation and maritime transport, and reform of the world financial system that forces African nations to pay more to borrow money.

The declaration backed by the leaders of the continent of 1.3 billion people calls on the world’s biggest emitters of planet-warming greenhouse gases and its richest countries to keep their promises. 

“No country should ever have to choose between development aspirations and climate action,” the declaration says.

But Priscilla Achakpa, founder of the Women Environmental Programme, warned that the rich industrialised countries and summit participants: “We reject forced solutions on our land.”

She urged the so-called global North to “remove yourself from the perspective of the colonial past.”

The summit was part of Africa’s preparation for the next United Nations climate change conference, which is scheduled to take place in Dubai in December.