Global Average Temperature Reaches All-Time High for January in 2020

Joe Arrigo is a Sacramento, California-based human resources professional who, as a manager at Modis, provides staffing services for IT and engineering firms in Northern California. Earlier in his career, Joe Arrigo worked as a legacy energy advisor at SolarCity. He remains passionate about climate change and saving the planet from its harmful effects.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), January 2020 was the hottest January of all-time. Record hot temperatures were recorded in areas in Central and South America, Scandinavia, and Asia, as well as in the Indian, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans. Moreover, global temperatures on land and in oceans reached an all-time high for the month of January and exceeded the 20th century average by 2.05 degrees Fahrenheit. The NOAA has tracked this data for 141 years, and the four hottest Januaries have all happened since 2016.

Rising global temperatures have also been recorded by Copernicus Climate Change Services, which contends that 2019 was the second-hottest year behind 2016, and that the last decade was the hottest of all-time. A continuation of this trend could lead to a global food crisis, as well as widespread heat waves and increased flooding that would cause many to leave their homes, according to United Nations scientists.