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Last month was the hottest February on record, according to new data from Copernicus , the European Union's climate monitoring service.
February was 1.77 degrees Celsius warmer than the average February in pre-industrial times, Copernicus found, capping the hottest 12-month period on record. This is another grim climate change milestone, as the long-term impacts of human-caused global warming are given a boost by the El Niño phenomenon.
"February joins the long string of records of recent months. As extraordinary as this may seem, it is not really surprising as the continued warming of the climate system inevitably leads to new temperature extremes ," said Carlo Buontempo, director of Copernicus in a statement.
Even in the context of consecutive months of high temperatures, February has been extreme. Global temperatures in particular in the first half of the month were unusually high. Four days in a row, from February 8 to 11, were 2 degrees warmer than those pre-industrial days.
While scientists are far more concerned about global warming, these temporary breaches are a clear and alarming sign of its acceleration. Global ocean temperatures were also off the charts last month, reaching 21.06 degrees - the highest monthly average on record, beating the previous record of 20.98 degrees set in August 2023.
Experts have expressed shock at how hot the oceans have been, particularly the North Atlantic, which has set a new daily temperature record every day since March 5 last year. Record ocean heat has significant global impacts. Not only is it dangerous to marine life, but it also drives extreme weather, including heat waves, intense rainfall and ferocious hurricanes.
"The Copernicus data show a familiar story of warming temperatures and changing weather patterns ," said Hannah Cloke, a climate scientist and professor at the University of Reading in the UK. It is completely consistent with what scientists have predicted would happen if greenhouse gases continue to accumulate in our atmosphere.
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