January has already broken temperature records, starting this year off on-course to break the global records set in 2023. Temperatures soared for the globe in January, as several new records for heat were set during the month.
“Temperatures were above average throughout the Arctic, most of northeastern North America, central Russia, southern and western Asia, Africa, South America, eastern and southeastern Asia and Australia. Africa and South America saw their warmest Januarys on record,” says NOAA.
“Globally, the last 12 months were warmer than any previous consecutive twelve months, with a temperature 0.64°C above the 1991-2020 average. The next warmest such period was the calendar year of 2023,” says Copernicus.
NOAA’s record of February through January 12-month averages agrees with Copernicus’ assessment. However, their values are compared to the 20th century average, which was significantly cooler than the 1991-2020 reference period.
Taking their look at this period a step further, Copernicus also added that “the average global temperature for the 12 months to January 2024 is estimated to be 1.52°C above the 1850-1900 level. The average over the thirteen months from the beginning of 2023 is 1.50°C above the 1850-1900 level.”
“This does not mean that the world has exceeded the lower-level target of 1.5° Celsius above the pre-industrial era referred to in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change,” the WMO cautioned. “The Paris Agreement refers to long-term warming over many years rather than monthly or annual exceedances.”
Global sea surface temperatures are once again in record territory, yesterday at 21.11°C, a temperature not seen in any year prior to 2024.
Hotter than normal temps in winter can create excess storage and lower prices with natural gas but in the summer this causes upwards pressure on electricity prices and natural gas. For a no cost analysis, quote along with updated market fundamentals reach out to us for an energy commodities profile https://onterraenergy.com/