January 2022 was recorded as Earth’s sixth-warmest January since global record-keeping began in 1880.
A 0.89 degree Celsius above the 20th-century average was reported by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the US (NOAA)’s National Centers for Environmental Information.
January 2022 was the warmest January on record to occur during a La Niña event. Global air temperature tends to cool slightly during La Niña and warm slightly during El Niño, on top of the longer-term warming caused by human-produced greenhouse gases.
South America had its second-warmest January on record; Asia, its fourth warmest; Oceania, its seventh warmest; and Europe, its 15th warmest. The contiguous US experienced near-average temperatures in January; the only state with a top-10 warmest or coldest January was California, which had its ninth-warmest January since records began in 1895.
Arctic sea ice extent during January 2022 was the 16th lowest in the 44-year satellite record, and the greatest January extent since 2009, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. While this is good news, sea ice extent has a large natural variability, and it is unlikely that the long-term decline in Arctic sea ice has halted. In addition, winter ice extent is a poor indicator of what the ice extent will be in summer and fall.
Antarctic sea ice extent in January was the second-lowest on record, behind only the record-low extent of 2017. M