2025 began with the hottest January in history – according to data from the EU Copernicus program. Last month, the average global temperature was about 1.75 degrees Celsius compared to the times before the industrial era. To the surprise of the scientists, the January record was broken despite the developing phenomenon of La Nina, which often leads to a decrease in temperature.
The data presented by scientists show the scale of the ongoing climate crisis. They show that this year's January was the warmest in the history of measurements. The average air temperature around the world during this period was 13.23 degrees Celsius. Thus, January extended the ongoing hot wave in the world, in which as much as 18 of 19 of the last months had a higher average temperature of at least 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to the times before the industrial era.
The January record was broken despite the developing phenomenon of La Nina, which, unlike El Nino, cools the temperature in the world.
“The fact that we still see record temperature values outside the impact of El Nino is surprising,” said Samantha Burgess from the European Center for Medium -term weather forecasts.
La Nina may not stop the temperature increase
According to the EU Copernicus agency, the phenomenon of La Nina is not yet fully developed, and the world is currently in the transitional phase between La Nina and El Nino. In turn, according to American data, the conditions testifying to the creation of La Nina formed a month ago.
During La Nina, there is an increased activity of the straps, which means that the water heading for Asia and Australia travels much faster and there is no time to heat up. At the same time, the depth of deep water increases in the western coasts of South America (Peru), which carries cold water to the surface. Although the anomaly brings different conditions in different regions of the world, it is usually combined with a decrease in global temperature.
Average Earth's surface temperature in January 2025C3S/ECMWF
According to Samantha Burgess, even if La Nina fully develops, its cooling effect may be too weak to stop the global temperature increase.
– By far the biggest factor affecting global warming is the burning of fossil fuels – the scientist added.
Experts from the British Met Office and Berkeley Earth expect that 2025 will be the third warmest year in the history of measurements, after 2023 and 2024. The forecasts are subject to considerable uncertainty resulting mainly from what the final impact on the global temperature will have the phenomenon of La Nina.
Source of the main photo: stock.adobe.com/c3s/ecmwf