February 2024 has been declared the hottest February ever recorded worldwide, extending the streak of nine consecutive months with record-breaking temperatures, as reported by scientists. The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service revealed that not only were sea surface temperatures globally the highest ever recorded, but February’s temperature also surpassed the norm by 0.81°C based on data from 1991 to 2020. Moreover, it was 1.77°C warmer than the average temperature during the pre-industrial period from 1850 to 1900.

The average global temperature over the past year, spanning from March 2023 to February 2024, reached a record high of 1.56°C above pre-industrial levels, briefly exceeding the critical threshold of 1.5°C linked with severe long-term impacts of climate change. During the initial half of February, daily average temperatures globally were exceptionally elevated, even peaking at 2°C above late 19th-century levels on four days from February 8th to 11th.

In Europe, February temperatures soared 3.3°C above the 1991-2020 average, with central and eastern Europe experiencing particularly high temperatures. The winter period from December 2023 to February 2024 ranked as the second warmest on record for Europe. Global sea surface temperatures for February, excluding the polar regions, reached an unprecedented 21.06°C, surpassing the previous record set in August 2023.

Carlo Buontempo, Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, underscored the ongoing warming trend and emphasized the imperative to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate further temperature extremes. Dr. Friederike Otto from Imperial College London stressed the urgency of transitioning away from fossil fuels to mitigate the intensification of extreme weather events associated with climate change.