February 2024 was the warmest February on record overall, with an average land surface temperature of 13.54°C, 0.81°C above the February average for the period 1991-2020. It was the ninth consecutive month with record temperatures for this time of year, scientists said.
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Global sea surface temperatures are also the highest ever recorded, according to data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
The data shows that February was 1.77°C warmer than the pre-industrial average for 1850-1900 and 0.81°C above the 1991-2020 level. The average global temperature over the past 12 months – from March 2023 to February 2024 – was the highest on record, at 1.56°C above pre-industrial levels.
Carlo Buontempo, Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), sums up: “February joined the growing series of records of recent months. Although it may seem unusual, the recorded measurements are not surprising, as continued global warming inevitably brings new temperature extremes. The climate is responding to current greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere, so if we fail to stabilise them, we will see more and more global temperature records and their effects.”
Ekologia.pl (JSz)
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