Ocean temperatures hit record high in February, says Copernicus
Ocean temperatures reached a record high in February, with an average sea surface temperature of 21.06 degrees Celsius, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said on Thursday.
The tail of a whale on the Pacific Ocean, in Panama (illustrative image).
uis Acosta / AFP
By: RFI with agencies
Advertisement
Read more
The average sea surface temperature in February surpassed the previous record of 20.98°C set in August 2023. The record comes as February was the warmest on record globally, compared to the same period in previous years.
Since June, every month has been the warmest on record worldwide, compared to the same period in previous years.
In addition to human-caused climate disruption, fueling the rise in temperatures is the El Niño weather phenomenon, which warms surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean and contributes to rising global temperatures.
“
The most surprising thing is that sea surface temperatures are reaching record levels in regions geographically far from areas where El Nino is observed
,” said Richard Allan, a scientist at the University of Reading.
According to him, this indicates the strong influence of increasing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.
The C3S said
the El Niño phenomenon
was weakening, but air temperatures over the oceans remained at abnormally high levels.
Read alsoEnvironment: humpback whales once again threatened by ocean warming
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your inbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
Share :
Continue reading on the same themes:
Oceans
Environment
Climate change