Last month was the warmest February on record globally, making it the ninth month in a row with record temperatures for the time of year, scientists have said.
The data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service shows that February was 1.77 degrees warmer than the pre-industrial average for the month, from 1850-1900, and 0.81 degrees above 1991-2020 levels.
Researchers say that the global average temperature for the past 12 months – between March 2023 and February 2024 – is the highest on record at 1.56 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
That puts the world temporarily above the 1.5c threshold beyond which, over the long term, the worst impacts of climate change are expected.
Europe’s winter was the second ever warmest on record for the continent.
Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), said: “February joins the long streak of records of the last few months.
“As remarkable as this might appear, it is not really surprising as the continuous warming of the climate system inevitably leads to new temperature extremes.
