For the first time, the planet has exceeded the 1.5°C warming threshold for 12 consecutive months compared to the pre-industrial era, according to AFP data, taken over by Agerpres.

Between February 2023 and January 2024, the global air temperature at the surface was 1.52°C higher than in the period 1850-1900, according to data from the European Copernicus Observatory.

"This does not mean that we have exceeded the 1.5°C threshold set in Paris" in 2015 to try to stop global warming and its consequences, recalls Richard Betts, director of climate change impact studies at the UK National Meteorological Office.

For this to occur, the threshold must be consistently surpassed over multiple decades.

"However, it is still a reminder of the profound changes we have already made to our global climate and that we need to adapt to now", he added.

"This is a very important and disastrous signal (...), a warning to humanity that we are approaching the 1.5-degree limit faster than expected", said Johan Rockström from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany, speaking to AFP.

Countries must "quickly align their policies and financial commitments" to reduce emissions and "work to reach an agreement on ambitious climate funding goals at COP29" in Baku in December, said Stephanie Roe, a climate specialist at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

The present climate has experienced an increase of approximately 1.2°C compared to the period from 1850 to 1900. Given the current rate of emissions, the IPCC anticipates a 50% likelihood of reaching the 1.5°C threshold on average by 2030-2035.

With an average temperature of 13.14°C, January 2024 is the warmest January recorded since measurements began, after a record year in 2023.

It surpasses the previous record set in January 2020 by 0.12°C and is 0.70°C higher than the average for the period 1991-2020. In comparison to the pre-industrial era, it registers a warming of 1.66°C.

January is the eighth consecutive month in which the monthly heat record has been surpassed, according to the European Copernicus Observatory.

The month was marked by a heatwave in South America, leading to record temperatures and destructive fires in Colombia and Chile, resulting in numerous casualties in the Valparaiso region.

Despite some cold periods and occasional heavy rains in some parts of the globe, exceptionally mild weather was recorded in Spain and southern France, as well as in some parts of the United States, Canada, Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.