For the ninth time in a row, the EU climate change service Copernicus has measured a global temperature record for a month. The first half of February in particular was “exceptionally” warm. The reason is climate change – and El Niño.
Last February was the warmest worldwide since weather records began – and thus the ninth month in a row with a global temperature record, as the EU Earth observation program Copernicus announced.
The air temperature on the earth’s surface averaged 13.54 degrees Celsius – 0.81 degrees higher than the average for the reference period from 1991 to 2020 and 0.12 degrees higher than the warmest recorded February 2016.
In the first half of the month in particular, the temperatures were “exceptionally high”: for four days in a row, the global average temperature was two degrees above the pre-industrial average. This was the longest period ever recorded with global average temperatures two degrees above pre-industrial levels, Copernicus said.
Record values also at the Sea surface
The measurements also showed an all-time high in sea surface temperatures for February. At 21.06 degrees at the end of the month, the sea surfaces were even warmer than the previous high in August 2023.
Climate Change Service director Carlo Buontempo believes the record is “remarkable” but says it is “not really surprising” as continued warming inevitably leads to new temperature extremes. The climate reacts to the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. As long as it is not possible to stabilize these, “we will inevitably be confronted with new global temperature records and their consequences.”
The El Niño weather phenomenon, which leads to warming of the sea surface in the southern Pacific, also contributes to the high temperatures. According to Buontempo, El Niño is expected to weaken by the beginning of summer. In his estimation, the transition to the cooling weather phenomenon La Niña could occur more quickly than previously assumed. This could prevent the record heat of 2023 from being exceeded this year.