A Warm Global January Continues The Long Trend; Long Hot Summer In Antarctica Too

January, 2022 was warm in most places in the world 
compared to previous Januaries, continuing a long
unrelenting trend in global warming 

The monthly global climate review from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information came out today to say that January, 2022 followed in the footsteps of much of 2021,  

To wit, January was the world's sixth warmest on record. That follows the trend of 2021, when many months were around fifth or sixth hottest.

That all makes sense, because the ocean patterns are in a La Nina phase, which features cool waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean off of South America. La Ninas tend to cool the world, so we're not seeing the monthly "hottest on record" reports we were seeing during the opposite El Nino a year or two back. 

It all means that climate change is roaring right along, especially since we continue to score "Top 10" warmest months during what should be a cooler phase.   NOAA has already concluded that 2022 will be among the top 10 warmest on record.  Or at least there's a 99 percent chance of that happening. The period of reliable records goes back 143 years. 

And yes, I know we here in Vermont had the coldest January since 2009, but we're a mere dot if that on the globe.  What goes on in Vermont certainly does not stay in Vermont. If you are under the age of 46, you have never seen a global January that was cooler than the 20th century average.

Meanwhile, a warm summer, at least for Antarctica, helped drive drive sea ice extent at the bottom of the world to its second lowest level on record.  If you're looking for a glimmer of hope, of sorts, Arctic sea ice extent was the largest since 2009. But that's not saying much. The Arctic sea ice extent was still below normal for the month. 

We're only half way through February, but I don't see any signs that the global "top ten warmest" trend will end by the time we get all of this month's data in.