AP
Climate Hottest Year
FILE - People in Lake Country, British Columbia, watch as the Quilpituk Creek wildfire burns on the mountainside across Okanagan Lake, near Fintry, Aug. 3, 2026.
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With parts of the globe aflame in wildfires, deadly heat waves parking over cities, record hot oceans and a strengthening super El Nino, it seems like we’re baking through the hottest year on record. But we’re not quite there — yet. It's only No. 3 in the record books. But it could be No. 1 soon. With the El Nino kicking in and accelerated warming, scientists say there’s increasing likelihood that the second half of 2026 will be near record territory. Scientists say this summer's warming is from human-caused climate change, not El Nino.