MASHABLE: Continuing the nearly 29-year streak of above-average global monthly temperatures, January came in as the fourth-warmest such month on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This makes it the warmest January since 2007, NOAA said, and was the 38th-straight January with a global temperature above the 20th century average.
The global warmth came in stark contrast to the “polar vortex” induced conditions the eastern U.S. and Canada experienced, as well as the cold and stormy conditions in the UK and parts of Russia. Unusually high temperatures elsewhere more than compensated for these cold regions. For example, Southern Hemisphere land temperatures were the highest on record for the month.
In other words, it may have been cold where you were, but globally, the planet’s hot streak continues unabated. If February’s global average temperature comes in above the 20th century average, it would make 29 years since the last below average month. Not only that, but increasing odds of an El Niño event occurring by the end of the summer means that global average surface temperatures may vault to record levels by late this year and into 2015… (more)
