'Warmest January on Record' Detected This 2024, The Highest Since 1800s: Climate Scientists Warn

The "warmest January on record" has been detected this 2024, with an average global temperature reaching over 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to European scientists. The record is hotter than the pre-industrial era since the 1800s. In addition, the global mean temperature was also recorded over the past 12-month period and has been the highest ever. The record-breaking temperatures in 2023 were associated with wildfires and heat waves.

Surpassing the 1.5 degrees Celsius mark, based on the recent report, is the same level that the 2015 Paris Agreement is trying to limit. This makes it a challenge for member countries of the said international treaty on climate change to mitigate global warming. The agreement is spearheaded by the United Nations (UN). Climate experts attribute the unprecedented warmest year and month ever to climate change.

In recent years, scientists have warned that the persistence of greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel burning is contributing to the worsening of the current climate crisis. Amid this warning, world leaders have proposed and implemented some climate change mitigation measures, including the reduction of carbon dioxide and methane emissions. Some industries have also started to move towards clean energy.

Warmest January on Record

January 2024 is the "warmest January on record globally" with an average surface air temperature of 13.14 degrees Celsius, which is 0.70 Celsius above the 1991 to 2020 average for the month of January. It is also 0.12 Celsius above the temperature of the previous warmest January back in 2020, which is several months before the total halt of climate gas-emitting transport and industrial activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This record has been announced by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) during its press release on Thursday, February 8. Its report suggests that this is the 8^th month in a row that is the warmest on record for the same month of the year. The C3S reported that January 2024 was 1.66 Celsius warmer than the estimate of the January average between 1850 and 1900, the designated reference for the pre-industrial period.

Hottest Year on Record

In its February 8 release, the Copernicus group also reiterated from its January 9 report that "2023 is the hottest year on record" with a global mean temperature for the past 12 months (February 2023 to January 2024) of 0.64 Celsius above the 1991 to 2020 period and 1.5 Celsius above 1850 to 1990 pre-industrial average. It added temperatures across Europe varied in January 2024 and the world experienced a relatively scorching heat.

Outside Europe, C3S recorded above-average temperatures over eastern Canada, northwestern Africa, central Asia, and the Middle East. Furthermore, below-average temperatures were detected over western Canada, the central United States, and most parts of eastern Siberia.

Also in January 2024, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that Earth's temperature has increased by an average of 0.06 Celsius per decade since the year 1850. This trend is expected to continue in the coming years unless significant climate action is taken, as scientists recurringly say.