El Nino and climate change preparing the perfect conditions for February to break heat records
Humanity is on course to experience the hottest February on record, after an unprecedently warm January, December, November, October, September, August, July, June and May, according to Berkeley Earth scientist Zeke Hausfather.
February is expected to break numerous heat records, meteorologist have warned, as global heating from anthropogenic activities and the natural El Nino climate pattern continue to drive up temperatures on land and oceans across the globe.
20 days into the shortest month of the year, the rise in temperatures has become so pronounced that climate charts are entering new territory, especially for sea-surface temperatures that have persisted and accelerated to concerning points.
Climate becoming more erratic and difficult to forecast
Dr Joel Hirschi, the associate head of marine systems modelling at the UK National Oceanography Centre, said: “The planet is warming at an accelerating rate. We are seeing rapid temperature increases in the ocean, the climate’s largest reservoir of heat.”
Hausfather said the spike in recent weeks was on the path for 2 degrees Celsius of warming, though this should be the brief, peak impact of the natural El Nino if it follows the path of previous years and starts to cool down in the months ahead.
That would usually be a source of good news if a temperature reducing La Nina follows, but the scientist at Berkeley Earth raised concerns over the behaviour of the climate becoming more erratic and difficult to forecast, according to The Guardian.
Ocean surface heat continues to surprise seasoned observers and increases the risk of intense storms later in the year. El Nino has pushed temperatures higher, but every extra tonne of carbon dioxide emitted by humanity also increases pressure on the oceans.
“Total madness” and “climatic history rewritten”
The first half of February has shocked experts. Maximiliano Herrera – blogs on Extreme Temperatures Around the World – described the increase in thousands of meteorological station heat records as “total madness” and “climatic history rewritten”.
He highlighted that Morocco had seen 12 stations register more than 33.9 degrees Celsius. Moreover, the northern Chinese city of Harbin had to close it prominent winter ice festival as temperatures crept above freezing for an unprecedented number of days in February.
In addition, monitoring stations as far apart as South Africa, Belize, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, Japan, Colombia, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Thailand and the Maldives have registered monthly heat records in the past week, the media agency further reported.
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