The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), facilitated by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts with support from the EU, unveiled its latest findings, revealing January 2024 as the warmest January globally on record. These revelations were presented during a ceremony at the Ethiopian Science Museum in Addis Ababa, heralding a significant milestone in climate monitoring and reporting.
C3S routinely releases monthly climate bulletins, leveraging billions of data points from satellites, ships, aircraft, and weather stations worldwide, analyzed through the ERA5 reanalysis dataset. The January bulletin highlights unprecedented global surface air and sea temperatures, sea ice cover fluctuations, and hydrological variables.
Key highlights from the report include:
- January 2024 recorded an average surface air temperature of 13.14°C globally, surpassing the previous warmest January in 2020 by 0.12°C.
- The month marked the eighth consecutive month with record-breaking temperatures, maintaining a trend observed since July 2023.
- The global mean temperature for the past twelve months (Feb 2023 – Jan 2024) set a new record, standing at 0.64°C above the 1991-2020 average and 1.52°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average.
- European temperatures exhibited variations, with Nordic countries experiencing temperatures below average, contrasting with much above-average temperatures in southern Europe.
- Globally, sea surface temperatures reached historic highs, with the average SST for January over 60°S–60°N hitting a record 20.97°C.
- Arctic sea ice extent was near average, marking the highest January extent since 2009, while Antarctic sea ice extent ranked as the sixth lowest for January.
Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of C3S, emphasized the urgency of addressing climate change, stating, “2024 starts with another record-breaking month – not only is it the warmest January on record, but we have also just experienced a 12-month period of more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial reference period. Rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are the only way to stop global temperatures increasing.”
Additionally, the bulletin noted hydrological highlights, with wetter-than-average conditions observed across Europe and other regions, while dry conditions persisted in select areas, contributing to wildfires in Australia and Chile.
The findings underscore the pressing need for concerted global action to mitigate the impacts of climate change and underscore the importance of initiatives like C3S in monitoring and understanding climate trends.