January 2025 Continues Alarming Global Warming Trend
January 2025 was the warmest January globally, with an average surface air temperature of 13.23°C, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).
Despite the emergence of La Niña—a natural climate pattern that brings cooler waters to the equatorial Pacific— January set yet another global temperature record.
Data from C3S shows that last month was 1.75°C above the pre-industrial level for January. It was the 18th month in the last 19 months for which the global-average surface air temperature was more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level.
The last 12–month period (February 2024 – January 2025) was 0.73°C above the 1991-2020 average, and 1.61°C above the estimated 1850-1900 average used to define the pre-industrial level. This follows an alarming trend of global warming, as 2024 became the first year to exceed 1.5℃.
The average temperature over European land for January 2025 was 1.80°C, 2.51°C above the 1991-2020 average for January, the second warmest after January 2020, which was 2.64°C above average. Conversely, temperatures were below average over the United States due to an Arctic Blast.
Further, Arctic Sea ice reached its lowest monthly extent for January, at 6% below average, similar to January 2018. Antarctic sea ice extent was 5% below average, contrasting with the record or near-record values observed in 2023–2024.
Samantha Burgess, Strategic Lead for Climate at European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts said, "January 2025 is another surprising month, continuing the record temperatures observed throughout the last two years, despite the development of La Niña conditions in the tropical Pacific and their temporary cooling effect on global temperatures. Copernicus will continue to closely monitor ocean temperatures and their influence on our evolving climate throughout 2025.”
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