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February smashes global temperature record, says NASA
February set global temperature records, Nasa announced on Saturday, deviating from historical norms by a wider margin than any month ever recorded, and raising further concerns about global warming.
It was the third consecutive month to break the record, which is calculated by setting the temperature for a particular month against the average temperature from that month between 1951-1980.
February was 2.43F (1.35C) above the norm, easily surpassing the 2.3F (1.14C) margin from January of this year, which also set a record.
The margin was considerably wider in the Northern hemisphere (2.76C) and the Arctic (5.36C).
Scientists say the unprecedented temperatures were due to man-made climate change and an unusually strong El Niño pattern in the Pacific Ocean.
Prior to this year, the warmest February on record came in 1998, another year with a strong El Niño.
Monthly global temperature findings date back to 1880, but never before have three consecutive months so far outpaced historical averages.
In a sign of how significant the jump was this February, Gavin Schmidt, a climate scientist who directs the Goddard Institute for Space Studies at Nasa, wrote on Twitter that he rarely comments on individual findings but felt the need this month because it was a "special" case.
The unprecedented temperatures have led to unprecedented consequences, particularly in the Arctic where sea ice levels this winter have hit record lows.
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