BRUSSELS, 6th February, 2025 (WAM) -- January 2025 was the warmest January on record, despite the cooling influence of the La Niña weather phenomenon, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
The global average temperature for January 2025 was recorded at 13.23 °C, making it 0.09 °C warmer than the previous record set in January 2024 and 0.79 °C above the 1991-2020 average.
Although signs of La Niña were evident in the central Pacific Ocean, sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific remained above average, suggesting that the transition towards La Niña could slow down or stall.
The European climate agency stated today that the planet experienced its warmest January ever, even as La Niña – typically associated with cooler global temperatures – continued to develop.
Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service in Brussels, remarked, January 2025 is yet another exceptional month, continuing the trend of record-breaking temperatures observed over the past two years, despite the emergence of La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific and its temporary cooling effect on global temperatures.
La Niña is a climate pattern that causes cooler-than-normal sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific Ocean, affecting weather patterns worldwide and generally leading to slightly lower global temperatures. In contrast, its counterpart, El Niño, tends to have a warming effect.
Copernicus scientists also reported that the 12-month period from February 2024 to January 2025 was 1.61 °C warmer than pre-industrial levels.