The world is experiencing a string of intense weather, from the polar vortex in the north to a cyclone near south-east Australia, as the latest data show the global temperatures that contribute to extremes continue to linger near record highs.
Scientists had expected the La Niña cooling phenomenon in the Pacific to ease rising temperatures, after the global average reached more than 1.5C above the pre-industrial level in 19 of the past 20 months.
But the cooling cycle’s influence on the southern ocean has been weak. Last month was the third-hottest February on record at 13.36C, or 1.59C above the pre-industrial level, the EU’s Earth observation agency Copernicus reported, and sea ice cover was at an all-time minimum.
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