Despite cooling weather systems and scientific predictions of a temporary warming reprieve, last month thermometers averaged at 1.75C above pre-industrial levels.
Even with the emergence of a naturally occurring La Nina climate pattern – which is known to bring temperatures down following a period of El Niño heating – January 2025 is now the hottest on record. During last month, temperatures exceeded the 1.5C threshold ratified by the Paris Climate Agreement.
The news follows reports that 18 of the past 19 months have seen global air temperatures sit above the 1.5C limit, averaging out at 1.61 above the threshold. Data has been sourced from billions of individual satellite, aircraft, ship and weather station measurements taken at locations across the globe.
Sea surface temperatures also raised considerable alarm, analysis outside the polar regions showing waters at 20.78C, the second hottest average for this time of year since records began. Experts pointed to the Pacific in particular, which showed signs that La Nina conditions were slowing or stalling, reducing the cooling potential of the weather system.
‘January 2025 is another surprising month, continuing the record temperatures observed throughout the last two years, despite the development of La Nina conditions in the tropical Pacific and their temporary cooling effect on global temperatures,’ said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
The news comes just weeks after Californian wildfires tore through vast areas of Los Angeles, leaving behind scores of dead and hundreds of billions of dollars worth in damage. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump’s administration has begun work deleting references to the climate crisis from government-owned websites, and has doubled down on promises to ‘drill, baby drill’ to increase America’s oil production in a bid to boost the national economy.
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Image: Elimende Inagella via Unsplash