Your support helps us to tell the storySupport NowFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.January 2025 was the warmest January ever recorded globally, continuing a streak of record-breaking temperatures despite expectations that the emergence of La Nina will lead to cooler conditions this year.The average temperature last month stood at 13.23C, which is 0.79C above the 1991-2020 average for January, according to European space agency Copernicus.January 2025 was 1.75C above the pre-industrial level.Scientists hoped the emergence of La Nina will slow down the record breaking global warming, but last month broke the record by 0.1C. This makes it the 18th month in the last 19 months for which the global-average surface air temperature was more than 1.5C above the pre-industrial level.”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,” Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at ECMWF, said.Usually after an El Nino like last year, temperatures fall rapidly, but “we’ve not seen that,” Ms Burgess said.The record temperatures come despite freezing temperatures in the US and elsewhere in the north. But the US is just a tiny fraction of the planet’s surface, and “a much larger area of the planet’s surface was much, much warmer than average,” Ms Burgess told AP. The average temperature over Europe for January 2025 was 1.80C, which is 2.51C above the 1991-2020 average for January, and the second warmest after January 2020.Grim doesn’t even begin to describe our prospects.Bill McGuire, emeritus professor of geophysical & climate hazards at University College London.Outside Europe, temperatures were mostly above average over northeast and northwest Canada, Alaska, and Siberia. They were also above average over southern South America, Africa, and much of Australia and Antarctica.Copernicus said the Arctic this month tied the January record for lowest sea ice. The US-based National Snow and Ice Data Center had it as second-lo
Gio. Feb 6th, 2025
