Last month was the hottest January the planet has experienced since record-keeping began nearly 140 years ago, new data released by NASA on Tuesday confirmed—and not by just a little.
January’s global average surface temperature during was 1.13º Celsius (or 2.3º Fahrenheit) above historical averages, according to the data.
Making the single-month record even more troubling, as Andrew Freedman notes at Mashable, is that January also capped a three-month period of record-shattering warming, making it much harder to claim that the spike in January represents a fluke.
Climate Central took a close look at the new figures:
This January was the warmest January on record by a large margin while also claiming the title of most anomalously warm month in 135 years of record keeping. The month was 1.13°C — or just a smidge more than 2°F — above normal. That tops December’s record of being 1.11°C — or just a smidge below 2°F — above average.
It marks the fourth month in a row where the globe has been more than 1°C (1.8°F) above normal. Incidentally, those are the only four months where the globe has topped that mark since record keeping began.