for the first time in history, the planet experienced warming of more than 1.5°C for 12 consecutive months

The month of January 2024 breaks a monthly heat record for the eighth consecutive month, the European Copernicus Observatory also indicated on Thursday.

Heatwave on the planet. For the first time in history, the planet experienced over a period of 12 months a warming of more than 1.5°C compared to the climate of the pre-industrial era, franceinfo learned from the European Copernicus observatory, Thursday February 8. Over the period from February 2023 to January 2024, the global surface air temperature was 1.52°C higher than the period 1850-1900.

January 2024 was the hottest January in world history, with an average temperature of 13.14°C. This is a monthly record broken for the eighth consecutive month. Never have such temperatures been measured for the month of January, the global average has exceeded the previous record which dated from 2020.

According to measurements by the European Copernicus Observatory, the temperature in January 2024 will exceed that of the pre-industrial era by 1.66°C. Which means that the 1.5°C global warming objective set by the Paris agreement has been exceeded, as it has been for a year now.

Absolute records on the ocean surface

The observatory also warns of record ocean surface temperatures in January 2024. During this incredibly hot winter month, Copernicus even recorded absolute records surpassing those recorded in midsummer, in August 2023.

Copernicus notes a drier than average climate, particularly in Spain, a country which on Wednesday made official the hottest month of January in its history: the average temperature recorded last month in continental Spain (8.4°C) exceeded 2.4°C the usual average, and 0.4°C that of 2016, the last record month of January for Spain. The climate was also very dry in the Maghreb, in the south of the United Kingdom and in Scandinavia.