The world has seen the terrible effects of climate change in February, 2024
Last February was the world’s warmest February on record. Global sea surface temperatures are also at record highs, according to data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. Such warming heralds the worst effects of climate change in the long term, experts say.
Last February’s temperature was 1.77 °C higher than the average during the pre-industrial period from 1850 to 1900.
Global average temperature from March 2023 to February 2024 was the highest ever recorded, 1.56 degrees Celsius higher than the pre-industrial period.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service found that from February 8 to 11, the global temperature was over 2 degrees Celsius higher than the average daily temperature from 1850 to 1900.
Statistics show that Europe’s temperature in February 2024 was 3.3 degrees Celsius above the 1991-2020 average. It was winter in Europe last December to February, but it was the second-warmest period for the continent.
The global sea surface temperature in February was the highest on record at 21.06 degrees Celsius. That surpasses the previous record of 20.98 degrees Celsius set in August 2023.
According to Copernicus, the average daily sea surface temperature reaches 21.09 degrees Celsius at the end of January.
Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, stated that February continued a long streak of record-breaking months. Continued warming of the climate system may inevitably push the world towards extreme temperatures.
Stakeholders warn, “Without stabilizing greenhouse gases, we will experience new global warming records and their consequences.”
The senior lecturer of climatology at the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College, London. “There is a lot of evidence that our climate is warming,” said Frederick Otto.
“If you want to deny climate change, you might as well claim that the earth is flat! Data from weather stations, satellites, everything indicates that our planet is warming at an alarming rate,” he added.
He also said, “As humans continue to burn oil, gas and coal, the climate is warming. It is a very simple and clear matter. There is no silver bullet or magic to climate change! We know what to do – stop burning fossil fuels.”
“Use sustainable and renewable energy sources instead of burning fossil fuels. Until we do, extreme weather events caused by climate change will continue to destroy lives and livelihoods,” he suggested.
