Scientists ‘staggered’ by record rise in Earth’s temperature

The Earth got so hot last month that scientists described temperatures as “astronomical”, “staggering”, and “strange”. They warned that the climate might have moved into a new, hotter neighbourhood.

This was not just the drumbeat of 10, straight, broken monthly global heat records, triggered by a super El Nino and manmade global warming. February has obliterated old marks by such a margin that it is the most above-normal month since meteorologists started keeping track, in 1880, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The old record was set just last December and the last three months have been the most above-normal on record, said NOAA climate scientist Jessica Blunden.