Last month was the hottest January on record, blitzing the previous high and stunning climate scientists who expected cooler La Niña conditions to finally start quelling a long-running heat streak.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service said January was 1.75˚C hotter than pre-industrial times, extending a persistent run of historic highs over 2023 and 2024, as human-caused greenhouse gas emissions heat the planet.
Climate scientists had expected this exceptional spell to subside after a warming El Niño event peaked in January 2024 and conditions gradually shifted to a cooling La Niña phase.
Stefan Rahmstorf, from the University of Potsdam, said it was the first time that temperatures recorded during a La Niña period were above those of a preceding El Niño.
“This is of serious concern—over the past sixty years, all twenty five La Niña January’s have been cooler than surrounding years,” he said.