February 2024 the warmest on record, as record-breaking streak hits 9 months

Last month was the warmest February on record - the ninth month in a row to have the highest average temperature on record for the respective month of the year.

That was the findings of Copernicus Climate Change Service's (C3S) latest monthly climate bulletin.

The report stated: "February 2024 was the warmest February on record globally, with an average ERA5 surface air temperature of 13.54 degrees Celsius, 0.81 degrees above the 1991-2020 average for February and 0.12 degrees above the temperature of the previous warmest February, in 2016."

The month was also 1.77 degrees Celsius warmer than an estimate of the February average for 1850-1900, the designated pre-industrial reference period. 

In addition, the global-average temperature for the past twelve months (March 2023–February 2024) is the highest on record, at 0.68 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average and 1.56 degrees above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average. 

According to the report: "The daily global average temperature was exceptionally high during the first half of the month, reaching 2 degrees Celsius above the 1850-1900 levels on four consecutive days (8–11 February)."

The bulletin stated that European temperatures in February 2024 were a stark 3.30 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average for February, "with much-above average temperatures experienced in central and eastern Europe."

Outside Europe, temperatures were above average over northern Siberia, central and northwest North America, the majority of South America, across Africa, and in western Australia. 

The report said El Niño continued to weaken in the equatorial Pacific, but that "marine air temperatures in general remained at an unusually high level."

It also said that the boreal winter period of 2023/2024 (December-February) was the warmest globally at 0.78 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average. European winter temperature was the second warmest on record, after the winter of 2019/2020, at 1.44 degrees above the 1991-2020 average.

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In a statement, Carlo Buontempo, C3S Director, 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."

Buontempo added: "The climate responds to the actual concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere so, unless we manage to stabilize those, we will inevitably face new global temperature records and their consequences".

The C3S is implemented by the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts on behalf of the European Commission with funding from the EU.

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