The winter of 2023-2024 in the continental United States is the warmest on record

The average temperature in the central 48 US states between December and February was 37.6 degrees Fahrenheit (3.1 degrees Celsius), 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius) above average, and the “warmest winter on record.” in history,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.

In February alone, the average temperature in these 48 states was 41.1 degrees Fahrenheit, 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit above average, and the third warmest February for the territory in 130 years.

During his annual address on Thursday night, US President Joe Biden called global warming a climate crisis, rejecting the phrase “climate change”.

“I see a future where we save the planet from the climate crisis,” he declared.

Last month was the warmest February on record globally, marking the ninth straight month of record high temperatures across the planet as climate change pushes the world into “uncharted territory”, the European Climate Observatory said this week.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) reported last month that February 2023 to January 2024 marked the first time Earth recorded a twelve-month period in which temperatures were 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

The planet’s greenhouse gas emissions, mainly from the burning of fossil fuels, continue to rise, although scientists say they need to be cut in half within this decade.