‘Lost winter’ as global temperatures reach new high

The globe has been breaking heat records each month since last June

People watch the sunset during the San Sebastián Street festivities in San Juan, Puerto Rico on January 21 (AP)

Earth broke heat records for the eighth straight month in January, according to the European climate agency.

For the first time, the global temperature pushed past the internationally agreed warming threshold for a 12-month period, with February 2023 to January 2024 running 1.52C hotter than pre-industrial levels, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service of the European Space Agency.