Here's how temperatures on land and at sea different from the 1981-2010 base period. (Image: National Climatic Data Center) The global average temperature for January, 2013 was 0.54°C, or 0.97°F, above the 20^th century average, according to an update just issued by the National Climatic Data Center. That makes January the ninth warmest since record-keeping began in 1880. Some notable findings:
The Southern Hemisphere experienced record warmth over land for the second month in a row
In Australia, the nationally-averaged monthly maximum temperature in January was the highest ever recorded.
The southern portion of Greenland was considerably warmer than normal.
The warmth in Greenland explains the unusual melting of snow along the southeastern coastal area of Greenland. I wrote about that on Monday in this piece. The melting continues, as today's Greenland Ice Sheet Today graphic from the National Snow and Ice Data Center shows.
