January 2015 Second Warmest on Record

For the Record:

Arctic sea ice extent for January 6.3 percent below 1981–2010 average

The globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces last month was 0.77°C (1.39°F) above the 20^th century average, the second highest for January since record keeping began in 1880, said the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC).

[The warmest January on record was in 2007, at 1.55°F (0.86°C) above average.]

Other Global Highlights:

• The globally-averaged land surface temperature was 2.57°F (1.43°C) above the 20^th century average, making it also the second highest on record for January. The warmest January was in 2007, at 3.31°F (1.84°C) above average, while sea surface temperature (SST) was 0.95°F (0.53°C) above average— the third highest for January.

• The average Arctic sea ice extent for January was just over 906,000km² (350,000 square miles) or 6.3 percent below the 1981–2010 average, making it the third smallest January extent since records began in 1979.

• Antarctic sea ice during January was 2,300,000km² (890,000 square miles), or 44.6 percent above the 1981–2010 average, making it the largest January extent on record, surpassing the previous record set in 2008 by 570,000km² (220,000 square miles) or 33 percent.

Selected Significant Climate Anomalies and Events – January 2015

NOAA National Climatic Data Center, State of the Climate: Global Analysis for January 2015, published online February 2015, retrieved on February 21, 2015 from http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/global/2015/1.