In the battle to slow global warming, January was the hottest month on record according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Thursday.

Global precipitation reached a near record-high in January on the heels of a record wet December.

Large portions of North America, Asia and Australia were wetter than average while much of southern Africa and South America were drier than normal.

The record-breaking trend seen for much of 2023 has rolled into 2024. For the eighth month in a row, new heat records have been set.

At the same time, sea surface temperatures have been at a record high now for 10 consecutive months.

Need for action ‘never clearer'

The UN climate change body, which hosts the annual COP conference, UNFCC, tweeted that based on Thursday’s figures, “the urgency for climate action has never been clearer.”

“It is time to act”, declared UNFCCC, and for countries to put their climate plans into motion which align with keeping global warming below the 1.5°C limit outlined in the Paris Agreement nearly a decade ago.

This new data comes from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA, the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service and the Japan Meteorological Agency.

They are four of the six international datasets feeding into WMO’s State of the Climate reports.

That report is due out next month. But, so far, the agency has already confirmed that 2023 was by far the warmest year on record due to human-induced climate change and a warming El Niño weather pattern.