The planet may have experienced its warmest February on record, with flowers blooming earlier in several countries –from Mexico to Japan–, the mountain slopes in Europe to have remained without snow and the temperature to have reached 38 degrees Celsius in Texas.

Although the details have not yet been finalized, The global average temperature in February 2024 is on track to be the warmest ever recorded for the month, three scientists told Reutersdue to climate change and the El Nino phenomenon.

If the information is confirmed, February will be the ninth consecutive month in which the global high temperature record is brokenaccording to data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

NOAA will release its final data for February around March 14according to her press office.

In the northern hemisphere, record high temperatures mean that “spring comes earlier”NOAA scientist Karin Gleason explained last week.

“I was in the eastern part of North Carolina yesterday and I saw trees in full bloom, with flowers everywhere and I thought it was February. It seems very strange'”he added.

Tokyo residents have been snapping photos of the cherry blossoms, which burst into flower about a month earlier than normalwhile in Mexico City the jacaranda trees that usually bloom at the end of March have been filled with purple flowers as early as January.

As the snow melted in Europe in Februaryski slopes became muddy and empty in Bosnia and Italy, while a French ski resort began advertising cycling and hiking routes.

At US the temperature reached up to 22 degrees Celsius above normal this week, with the Texas city of Killeen breaking the record with 38 degrees Celsius.

The heat caused by global warming is disrupting ecosystemscontributes to melting polar and mountain glaciers, raises sea levels and causes extreme weather events, says Anders Levermann, a physicist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

The record temperatures recorded in the southern hemispherewhere it is now summer, usually cause an increase in heat-related deaths, comments Jane Baldwin, a scientist at the University of California.

“Heat is a great silent killer”he emphasizes.

Heat waves hit Argentina, Peru, Brazil and Chile in February, while extremely hot and dry conditions contributed to the spread of wildfires in Santiago, which killed at least 133 people.

Karin Gleason expects that El Nino will subside by mid-2024 and may give way to the El Nina phenomenon, which may help limit the heat towards the end of the year.

However, NOAA projects that there is a 22 percent chance that 2024 will break 2023’s record for the hottest year, and a 99 percent chance that it will be among the five warmest years, Gleason points out.