February Breaks Records

Records aren’t made to be broken. In a stable system, records happen randomly and equally on both sides of a norm. February’s record heat makes ten months in a row when records were set, all on the high side, and at levels that are much more than nuance. Alaska’s temperature was 12F degrees above normal. The global record was set at 1.21C (2.18F). The numbers aren’t as important as the trend. The planet is warming faster than our predictions, which means our plans for combating climate change may be insufficient to halt an acceleration. Impacts that were expected for the later half of the century may arrive early. Debates become moot.

(Click on the graph for the link.)

“10th Record Month In A Row” – American Geophysical Union