January was officially the hottest month on RECORD – with global temperatures 0.7°C above average, scientists say
- The global average temperature last month was 13.14°C – 0.7°C above average
- This is the eighth consecutive record month
Last month was officially the warmest January on record, experts from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (CS3) have confirmed.
The global average temperature in January was 13.14 °C (55.6 °F) – 0.7 °C (1.26 °F) above the 1991-2020 average.
It is also 0.12 °C (0.21 °F) higher than the temperature of the warmest January last year recorded in 2020.
This is the eighth consecutive record month, with every month since June being the warmest on record.
“2024 starts with another record month,” said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of C3S.
Last month was officially the warmest January on record, experts from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (CS3) have confirmed
The global average temperature in January was 13.14 °C (55.6 °F) – 0.7 °C (1.26 °F) above the 1991-2020 average. Pictured: Bondi Beach on January 21
CS3 scientists use a combination of satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations to monitor weather around the world.
Their measurements show that the global average temperature of the past twelve months is the highest ever measured 0.64°C (1.15°F) above the 1991-2020 average and 1.52°C (2.73°F) above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average.
Here in Britain, parts of north-west Scotland recorded exceptionally high temperatures in January.
Achfary (Sutherland) recorded a staggering daily maximum temperature of 19.9°C (67.8°F), beating the previous British January temperature record by a very wide margin of 1.6°C (2.8°F) .
Meanwhile, Kinlochewe (Wester Ross) recorded 19.6 °C (67.2 °F), also beating the previous record.
However, this was not the case across the European continent.
In the Scandinavian countries, the average temperature in January turned out to be well below the 1991-2020 average.
2023 is confirmed as the warmest calendar year in global temperature records dating back to 1850. The global average air temperature was 58.96 °F (14.98 °C), about 0.3 °F (0.17 °C) higher than the result in 2016
Outside Europe, average temperatures were well above average in Eastern Canada, Northwest Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.
In contrast, they were below average in western Canada, the central US and most of eastern Siberia.
The new data comes shortly after CS3 confirmed that 2023 was the hottest year on record.
Last year the global average temperature was about 58.96 F (14.98 C). 0.17 °C higher than the result in 2016, the previous warmest year.
“The extremes we have witnessed in recent months are dramatic evidence of how far we are now from the climate in which our civilization developed,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of C3S.
“This has profound implications for the Paris Agreement and all human endeavors.”
According to Ms Burgess, there is only one way to curb this rise in global temperatures.
“Rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are the only way to stop the rise in global temperatures,” she said.