The sun obscured by smoke from wildfires in Sonoma County, California, on Aug. 22, 2020. August 2020 will go down as the fourth-warmest on record worldwide, with above average summertime heat in the U.S. and Mexico tempered slightly by below average temperatures in parts of the Southern Hemisphere. Global temperatures for the month spiked around 0.9 degrees Celsius above the historical average, according to a new report by Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. That reading came in lower than the summers of 2018 and 2019, the agency said in a statement. Still, high temperatures recorded over the past few months have put 2020 on track to become the second-hottest or possibly the hottest year on record. Record-breaking highs have been registered around the world, including an August 17 reading of 54.4 Celsius (129.9 Fahrenheit) in Death Valley, California, which could be the highest temperature recorded. Heatwaves brought higher-than-average temperatures […]