February on course to be hottest in human history

Unusually hot days and a rapid rise in ocean surface temperatures as global heating combines with El Niño

- Jonathan Watts

February is on course to break a record number of heat records, meteorologists say, as human-made global heating and the natural El Niño climate pattern drive up temperatures on land and oceans around the world.

A little over halfway into the shortest month of the year, the heating spike had become so pronounced that climate charts were entering new territory, particularly for sea-surface temperatures that have persisted and accelerated to the point where expert observers are struggling to explain how the change is happening.

"The planet is warming at an accelerating rate. We are seeing rapid temperature increases in the ocean, the climate's largest reservoir of heat," said Dr Joel Hirschi, the associate head of marine systems modelling at the UK National Oceanography Centre. "The amplitude by which previous sea surface temperatures records were beaten in 2023 and now 2024 exceed expectations, though understanding why this is, is the subject of ongoing research."