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Last month was the hottest January on record, and surprisingly scientists expect the cooling LaNiña weather cycle in the tropical Pacific to slow down the high temperatures in nearly two years.
Copernicus Climate Change Services, the EU’s Earth Observatory, said January ranked the third global month in the world, with surface air temperatures of 13.23°C, which is higher than the pre-industrial average of 1.75°C.
Despite the appearance of La Niña in December, this warming is still raising concerns that climate change is accelerating in countries such as the world’s largest historical polluter, climate change is accelerating.
Bill McGuire, professor emeritus of UCL geophysics and climate hazards, said January’s data were both surprising and frankly frightening, adding: Questions, dangers, ubiquitousness, climate ruptures have arrived. However, emissions Continue to increase.”
Samantha Burgess, a climate strategy leader at the European Centre for Medium Weather Forecasting, oversees Copernicus’ Centre for Medium Weather Forecasting, said January is “another one” despite La Niñua’s development. The surprising month continued with the record temperatures observed in the past two years”.
Copernicus found that although temperatures below average in Iceland, the United Kingdom, Ireland, northern France and parts of Scandinavia, Europe experienced its second best January.
The average global sea surface temperature is 20.78℃, the second highest value since January last year. The scientists say that although the central equatorial Pacific has become cooler, the temperature is “extremely high in many other sea basins and oceans”.
Richard Allan, a professor of climate science at the University of Reading in the UK, said, “The global sea surface remains very warm in early 2025, mainly due to the human-induced warming.”
He added that natural weather fluctuations from one week to one week “can cause warm or cold conditions in the mainland”, saying “contributed to global unexpected global temperatures in early 2025.”
Naturally occurring La Niña weather phenomena often lead to lower global temperatures, while during the opposite Elniño warming phase, temperatures rise.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, El Niño ended in May 2024, while La Niña conditions delayed in the equatorial Pacific were delayed.
Earlier this week, scientist James Hansen issued an alarm about climate change in the 1980s, saying that despite La Niña, average temperatures this year may be similar to those in 2024.
Last year was the hottest on record, with global average temperatures above pre-industrial levels.
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