(ORDO NEWS) — According to the European Union climate change service Copernicus, the average temperature for January 2023 in Europe was 2.2 °C higher than the average for the same period 1990-2020.
The first month of this year was the warmest on the continent in 30 years.
January started with record warm days. An alarming number of heat records were recorded across the continent on New Year’s Eve, with at least eight countries having their warmest January on record.
Copernicus climatologist Maximiliano Herrera, who tracks extreme temperatures around the world, said it was “the most extreme winter heat wave in European history,” according to CNN.
The average temperature for January 2023 was 2.2°C higher than the average for the same period 1990-2020.
The Balkans, Eastern Europe, Finland, an arctic archipelago off the coast of Norway, saw especially hot temperatures in January, according to Copernicus, which analyzes billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations.
In particular, in the Czech city of Javornik on January 1, the temperature reached a record 19.6 ° C.
“While the first month of 2023 is exceptional, these temperatures remain a tangible indicator of the effects of climate change on many regions and have provided an additional warning of future extreme events,” said Samantha Burgess, Associate Director of Copernicus Climate Change Services.
Globally, January temperatures were 0.25°C warmer than the average for the same month from 1991-2020, according to the service. At the same time, a record level of sea ice melting was observed in Antarctica.
The size of sea ice – an ocean covered with an ice crust – was 31% below average. In the Arctic, sea ice was 4% less than average, with the Barents Sea and Svalbard the hardest hit.
But in some regions and countries, unusual cold weather has set in. Below average temperatures have been recorded in Siberia, as well as in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Australia.
Some scientists point to Arctic warming as one of the causes of extreme cold snaps, even though winters are getting warmer overall.
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