Global temperatures in January 2024 were higher than at any time this month on record. This was announced by the European Union’s climate change service Copernicus. This means that for the first time global warming is now on average over 1.5 degrees over a period of twelve months (February 2023 to January 2024) compared to the pre-industrial era. However, that does not mean that the Paris 1.5 degree target has been missed, as longer-term average values are being looked at.
Rapid reductions in greenhouse emissions are the only way to stop rising global temperatures, warned Copernicus Deputy Director Samantha Burgess. The mean January 2024 temperature was 1.66 degrees higher than the estimated average January temperature between 1850 and 1900, it said. Experts believe it is entirely possible that 2024 will be even warmer and that the entire year could break the 1.5 degree threshold for the first time.
2023 will be the warmest year since records began in 1850
According to Copernicus, last year was 1.48 degrees warmer than the global pre-industrial average, making it the warmest since records began in 1850. “It is likely that temperatures in 2023 were warmer than in the past 100,000 years,” Burgess explained at the beginning of January . Europe experienced its second warmest year on record.
Green Party leader Ricarda Lang said: “Despite some important successes by the international community – most recently in Dubai, where the states agreed to end fossil fuels – we are too far away from complying with the Paris Climate Agreement and thus protecting our livelihoods.” Lang emphasized that the current figures are not only a warning to humanity, but also a mandate to take action. The coming European elections are about a directional decision. “We want our industries to remain competitive and for the technologies of the future to come to us.” To achieve this, investments must be made in the climate-neutral modernization of the economy and in social infrastructure.
The weather phenomenon El Niño has now begun to weaken, but the air temperatures over the sea are still at an unusually high level, according to Copernicus’s current status. The recurring weather phenomenon heats up the Pacific every few years and can also increase global temperatures drive up.
Regional differences
There was a mixed picture in Europe in January: While it was significantly cooler in the Nordic countries than the average for the reference period, it was significantly warmer in the south of the continent. It was also warmer than average in eastern Canada, northwest Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia, while it was colder than average in western Canada, the central United States and most of Siberia.
According to the data, the air temperature in January was 0.12 degrees higher than the temperature in January 2020, which was recorded as the warmest January so far. The data used by Copernicus goes back to 1950, and some earlier data is also available. Experts assume that a record year like 2023 will probably be considered a comparatively cold year in a few years.
The European Union’s climate change service Copernicus regularly publishes data on surface temperatures, sea ice cover and precipitation. The findings are based on computer-generated analyzes that incorporate billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations around the world.
