January 2025: Record Warmth Amid La Niña Conditions

January 2025 is projected to be the warmest January on record, with a temperature anomaly of 1.75°C above pre-industrial levels. Despite ongoing La Niña conditions, both hemispheres experienced record high temperatures, signaling an unusual climatic pattern. These findings raise concerns regarding the overriding impact of greenhouse gases on natural climate cycles, challenging previous temperature expectations.

January 2025 has emerged as potentially the warmest January on record, exhibiting a striking temperature anomaly of 1.75°C above the pre-industrial baseline of 1850-1900. This data, sourced from the ERA5 dataset, underscores globally elevated temperatures across both hemispheres during this month, marking a significant climatic anomaly.

Remarkably, on January 31, record high temperatures were reported in Jamaica and Madagascar, attesting to the widespread warmth across the globe. The ERA5 dataset, supplied by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF), supports these findings, which reveal unusual temperature patterns amidst the typically cooling influence of the ongoing La Niña conditions within the equatorial Pacific Ocean.

This notable warmth contradicts expectations since La Niña typically correlates with lower global temperatures. January 2025 stands out uniquely, being warmer than any previous January months recorded during comparable El Niño or neutral years. Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at Berkeley Earth, noted the unexpected rise to 1.75°C anomaly, surpassing the prior January record set in 2024, thus underscoring the unusual climatic patterns observed this year.

In the past, record January temperatures were generally linked to ongoing El Niño events, which are known to elevate global temperatures. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) had recently noted that the last El Niño event ended in June 2024, which contributed to 2024’s record warm temperature anomaly of 1.55°C above pre-industrial levels. Although La Niña conditions emerged in December 2024, scientists anticipated a cooler 2025, yet January’s data challenges this expectation.

La Niña is a climate pattern characterized by cooler ocean temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific, which typically contributes to decreased global temperatures. However, the rising temperatures in January 2025 highlight a concerning trend where greenhouse gas emissions may override the natural cooling effects of La Niña. Scientists are increasingly observing that fossil fuel-driven climate change severely impacts historical climate cycles such as El Niño and La Niña, leading to unprecedented temperature anomalies.

The January 2025 warmth, characterized by a 1.75°C anomaly, marks an unprecedented climatic event, diverging from typical La Niña expectations. This anomaly highlights the growing influence of greenhouse gas emissions on global temperatures, suggesting that future climatic patterns may continue to defy historical norms. As scientists analyze the contributing factors, it becomes evident that significant action is required to mitigate the impact of human-induced climate change.

Original Source: www.downtoearth.org.in