Global warming: January was the hottest month in history

The beginning of 2025 registered a new alarming temperature record: according to Copernicus, the European Union program that provides information based on the observation data of the Earth by satellite, January was the hottest month in history since you have records.

Despite the atypical cold that was lived this month in the United States and the arrival of the girl’s phenomenon, which has a cooling effect, temperatures reached a new maximum this month. Scientists still analyze what factors this extreme warming may have promoted, above expectations.

Globally, January 2025 was 0.09ºC warmer than January 2024the most warm previous January, and it was 1.75ºC warmer than before the industrial era, Copernicus calculated. It was the 18th month of the last 19 in which the world reached or exceeded the internationally agreed heating limit of 1.5ºC above preindustrial times. Scientists do not consider that the limit was exceeded unless, and until, Global temperatures remain above it for 20 years.

Concern for an acceleration of global warming

This record coincides with the anticipation you had made James Hansennasa main excientific, which He had warned that global warming is accelerating.

The records of Copernicus date from 1940but other American and British records date back to 1850. Scientists who use representative values ​​such as trees rings say This era is the warmest in about 120,000 years or since the beginning of human civilization.

Why was the new heat record

According to the specialists, the record heat is driven by the accumulation of greenhouse gases by burning coal, oil and natural gas, but natural contributions to temperature change did not act as expected, said Samantha Burges, Strategic leader for the climate of the European Meteorological Agency.

The natural factor that has the greatest impact on global temperatures is usually the Cycle of changes in the waters of the Equatorial Pacific Ocean.

When the central Pacific is especially warm, this is the El Niño phenomenon and global temperatures tend to shoot. On the contrary, when the girl arrives tends to mitigate the effects of global warming, making it much less likely record temperatures.

In January a La Niña type phenomenon began after brewing for months But heat remained at record levels, which caused strong uncertainty in the scientific world about which other factors can be driven above expectations.

Usually, after an El Niño phenomenon like last year, temperatures fall quickly, but “we have not seen that,” Burgess said in dialogue with AP. “Although the Equatorial Pacific is not creating conditions that hot our global climate, we are still seeing record temperatures”Added the specialist, and explained that much of this is due to record heat in the rest of the oceans of the world.