China News Service, Beijing, February 8 (Xinhua) The Copernicus Climate Change Service, the European Union's climate monitoring agency, said on the 8th that January 2024 was the hottest January on record in the world.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service issued a press release that day, saying that the global average surface temperature in January 2024 reached 13.14 degrees Celsius, 0.12 degrees Celsius higher than the previous hottest month of January 2022, and 1 degree higher than the pre-industrial temperature of 1850 to 1900. The average monthly temperature is 1.66 degrees Celsius higher. This is the eighth consecutive month since June 2023 that the monthly temperature record has been set.
The El Niño began to weaken last month and may turn into a La Niña later this year, the bulletin said. Despite this, the global average ocean surface temperature in January this year still hit the highest record for every January on record.
Foreign media reported that the record-breaking temperatures are mainly caused by the El Niño phenomenon and rising global ocean surface temperatures. The main factor causing high ocean surface temperatures is the continued increase in greenhouse gas concentrations. Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, pointed out that rapid reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is the only way to stop the rise in global temperatures.
The Copernicus Climate Change Service said last month that 2023 will be the hottest year since records began in 1850. Some American scientists say that there is a one-third probability that 2024 will be hotter than 2023, and a 99% probability of being among the top five hottest years. (over)