NEW DELHI: The world experienced the warmest January this year, with the global mean temperature for the past 12 months exceeding the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold, as reported by the European climate agency.
However, this doesn’t imply a permanent breach of the 1.5 degree Celsius limit specified in the Paris agreement, as it refers to long-term warming over many years.
Scientists attribute this exceptional warming to the combined influences of El Niño, characterised by abnormal warming of surface waters in the central Pacific Ocean, and human-induced climate change.
The global average temperature in January was 1.66 degree Celsius above the January average for 1850-1900, the designated pre industrial reference period.
The European climate agency further noted that January 2024, with an average temperature of 13.14 degrees Celsius, was 0.12 degrees Celsius warmer than the previously recorded warmest January in 2020.