EU Climate Change Service:

2024 started with warmest January ever recorded

Two women soak up the sun on a beach in Cadiz, Spain, at the end of January 2024 in temperatures of around 30 degrees.(Bild: AFP )

After it was recently officially confirmed by the World Meteorological Organization that 2023 was the hottest year since industrialization, the still young year 2024 has also started with a temperature record: Global temperatures in January 2024 were higher than ever before in this month since records began.

The record was published by the European Union's Copernicus climate change service. At an average of 13.14 degrees Celsius, the air temperature at the Earth's surface was 0.7 degrees higher than the average for the reference period from 1991 to 2020 and 0.12 degrees above the highest January temperature to date in 2020.

Sun-seekers enjoy the unusually warm weather at Santa Maria Beach in Cadiz on January 26, 2024(Bild: AFP)

"2024 is starting with a record month - not only is it the warmest January ever recorded, but we have also just experienced a 12-month period of more than 1.5 degrees above the pre-industrial reference period," said Copernicus Deputy Director Samantha Burgess. A rapid reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is the only way to stop the rise in global temperatures, she warned.

The average January 2024 temperature was also 1.66 degrees higher than the estimated average temperature for that month in the period between 1850 and 1900. The global average temperature for the past twelve months from February 2023 to January 2024 was also higher than ever before, according to the data. It was 0.64 degrees above that of the reference period from 1991 to 2020.

Significantly colder in the north, but warmer in the south
The picture in Europe was mixed. While it was significantly cooler in the Nordic countries than the average for the reference period, it was much warmer in the south of the continent. Temperatures were also above average in eastern Canada, northwest Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, while western Canada, the center of the USA and most of Siberia were colder than average.

The El Niño weather phenomenon has begun to weaken in the equatorial Pacific, but air temperatures over the ocean remain at unusually high levels, the Copernicus statement added. The recurring weather phenomenon heats up the Pacific every few years.

The European Union's Copernicus climate service regularly publishes data on the Earth's surface temperature, sea ice cover and precipitation. The findings are based on computer-generated analyses that incorporate billions of measurements from satellites, ships, airplanes and weather stations around the world. The data used by Copernicus dates back to 1950, but some earlier data is also available.