Last month was the world's warmest February in modern times, the EU's climate service says, extending the string of monthly records to nine in a row. Every month since June 2023 has seen new temperature highs for the time of year. The world's sea surface is the warmest on record, while Antarctic sea ice has again reached extreme lows. The Pacific El Niño weather pattern continues to push temperatures higher, but human-caused climate change is by far the main driver of the warming.

"Heat-trapping greenhouse gases are clearly the main culprit," emphasizes Professor Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization. (From Mark Poynting, more at bbc.com )