The latest record-breaking data included sea surface temperatures that were not only the hottest for any February, but eclipsed those of any month on record.
How the figures break down
February 2024 had an average surface air temperature of 13.54 degrees Celsius — 1.77 degrees warmer than an estimate of the preindustrial February average for 1850-1900.
Last month, Copernicus said monthly temperatures from February 2023 to January 2024 had consistently been 1.52 degrees Celsius above the same benchmark. It was the time this had ever been observed over 12 months.
However, the global temperature spanning the year from March 1 last year up to and including February 2024 was even higher — at 1.56 degrees above the 1850-1900 average.
Mediterranean region gripped by disastrous drought
Southern Europe and North Africa are experiencing a massive winter drought. Come spring, the situation could get even worse.
Image: PAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images
Lean harvest
The oranges in Sicily are much smaller than usual this year — if, like these ones, they don't dry out on the tree before they are even ripe. The lack of water on the Southern Italian island is to blame. Authorities declared a drought emergency and a "state of natural disaster" at the beginning of February.
Image: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP
No winter rains
It's not just Europe that's suffering: A sprouting plant struggles in the parched Moroccan soil. According to data from the European earth observation program Copernicus, a quarter of Europe and North Africa is experiencing drought. The failure of winter rains to materialize after the devastating heatwaves of summer 2023 have caused the drought to persist in large parts of the Mediterranean.
Image: FADEL SENNA/AFP/Getty Images
Not much green left
A cow searches for fresh stalks in Sicily. Farmers don't know how to feed their animals: In spring 2023, storms swept across the island and destroyed large parts of the hay harvest. It has hardly rained since then. As everywhere in the affected region, man-made climate change is to blame, as it increases the frequency and intensity of heatwaves, droughts and heavy rainfall.
Image: ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP/Getty Images
Disastrous drought
A farmer lays irrigation hoses in a potato field in Berrechid, an important agricultural region in Morocco. The drought is particularly bad in the North African country, as well as in southern Italy, Spain, Algeria and Tunisia. Last year, however, the overall situation was even more devastating: In 2023, 31.3% of the Mediterranean region was affected by drought.
Image: FADEL SENNA/AFP/Getty Images
Brown instead of green
The view from space makes it clear: Normally, the depicted areas around Casablanca should be green and lush in the rainy winter months instead of parched and brown. The drought is compounded by temperatures that are far above average. They recently rose to 37 degrees Celsius in February. Morocco is experiencing its sixth consecutive year of drought.
Image: NASA Earth/Zumapress/picture alliance
Harvesting what you can
The situation is similarly difficult in neighboring Tunisia. This farmer was at least able to harvest some olives in November 2023. Olive production, one of the country's most important agricultural products, has fallen by around 30%. Drought and excessively high temperatures are also to blame. According to Copernicus, last January was the warmest in the world since records began.
Image: Yassine Gaidi/Andalou/picture alliance
Summer temperatures in winter
Sunbathing in winter? 2024 was the warmest January in the Spain's history. In some regions, such as here in Malaga, the thermometer climbed to almost 30 degrees Celsius (86 Farenheit) — temperatures that are usually seen from June onwards. The drought in Andalusia, which has persisted for years, has been exacerbated by the warm winter weather.
Image: Europa Press/abaca/picture alliance
Laid dry
Northern Spain is also suffering from a lack of water: Boats are stranded at the reservoir in Vilanova de Sau, in Catalonia. After three years of drought, the water level of one of the most important reservoirs for supplying water to Barcelona has fallen below 4%, the lowest level in history. A state of emergency has been declared in Catalonia, and water consumption has been restricted.
Image: PAU BARRENA/AFP/Getty Images
No water in sight
At the beginning of February, the Agly riverbed in the French Pyrenees is almost completely dry, and there is little hope for improvement: Copernicus predicts above-average temperatures for the Mediterranean region in spring 2024. This is expected to be accompanied by less snow in the mountains, whose meltwater is crucial to filling rivers.
Image: Hans Lucas/AFP/Getty Images
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What does it mean?
Climate scientists say most of the record heat is because of human-caused greenhouse emissions but that some of it also comes from the natural El Nino warming pattern of the central Pacific Ocean, which changes global weather patterns.
C3 Director Carlo Buentempo said the string of record temperatures still indicated clearly that action must be taken.
"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," Buentempo said.
"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."
Copernicus announced in January that it had seen average temperatures exceeded by 1.52 degrees Celsius on average for the first time over 12 months, from February 2023 to January 2024, compared to the pre-industrial era.
However, the global temperature spanning the year from March 1 last year up to and including February 2024 was the highest on record at 1.56 degrees above the 1850-1900 average.
