An article in TIME Magazine (TIME) claims that January 2024 was the hottest ever on record for the planet. Titled, 2024 Had the Hottest January on Record Following 2023’s Hottest Year on Record the article is based on a single source of temperature data.
Data from multiple other sources of temperature measurements refute this claim. [emphasis, links added]
TIME refers to the Copernicus EU climate service as the source for its alarming claim. Copernicus EU issued a press release claiming:
January 2024 was the warmest January on record globally, with an average ERA5 surface air temperature of 13.14°C, 0.70°C above the 1991-2020 average for January and 0.12°C above the temperature of the previous warmest January, in 2020.
…
The month was 1.66°C warmer than an estimate of the January average for 1850-1900, the designated pre-industrial reference period.
The problem with that is that they are using a reference period of 1850 to 1900 that no other climate data source uses; a period, not coincidentally, more than 100 years of global warming ago when the Earth was cooler than today.
For example, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) produced a map of the globe that shows a significantly lower global temperature for January 2024.
The GISS global value was just 1.20°C compared to the 1.66°C claimed by Copernicus is different because NASA GISS is using a base period of 1951 to 1980.
Copernicus seemingly cherry-picked the reference period to fit the climate crisis narrative, and TIME was too uninterested in seeking and presenting the truth to investigate the extraordinary claim, instead reporting it as an unchallenged fact.
When you look at satellite temperature data compiled by the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), the “hottest January ever” claim also falls apart:
While it is not the globe, the United States (U.S.) is often cited as being a leading metric for climate change by both media and scientific sources. This is because the U.S. has more temperature stations per land area than any other region included in the global climatological network.
As such, its readings have an outsized impact on global average temperature measurements.
Yet when you examine the data from the US Climate Reference Network (USCRN), the best and most state-of-the-art surface measurement system in the world, we find that not only was January 2024 not the hottest on the record it was below normal in temperature:
At -0.14°F (-0.08°C), there is certainly no cause for alarm about temperature in the United States. Yet TIME does not mention any of these other sources.
It gets worse than the simple subversion of science by omission of critical facts. TIME quoted a spokesperson for Copernicus in the article:
“Rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are the only way to stop global temperatures increasing,” Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said in a statement.
That statement is nothing more than political advocacy calling for the reduction of greenhouse gases through restrictions of economies, rather than simply reporting the science. By using that quote, TIME is complicit in pushing advocacy over science.
TIME’s article is yet another ugly example of mainstream media preferring to push an alarming climate change narrative rather than reporting all of the facts, in context, honestly, and without bias.
Shame on TIME for failing to adhere to the most basic journalistic standards.
Read more at Climate Realism
Eco-Stupidity caused by way too many episodes of Captain Planet/Network Warth and One Child One Voice all produced by Red Ted Turner
The headline of this article is wrong.
The article does not debunk Time magazine’s claims but actually confirms them by giving us data from three different sources which supports Time’s claim.
The author Alan Watts injects his personal opinions in his text but at the same time he quotes data that confirms Time’s claim. I question his integrity in this matter.
“The author Alan Watts…”
Actually reading the authors name I see “Anthony Watts”. I’ve done it myself on occasion, reading an article too quickly and not really ‘thinking’ about what I’m reading.
Time Magazine also pushes this Darwinian load of Malarkey named Hitler as t heir 1938 Person of the Year just like they did with Greta and they sell a Copy to Kids TIME FOR KIDS which they spread the same lies their adult issues do
When ever there is a big statement claiming record warming, the implication is that more action is needed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. No matter what is happening with temperature, reducing carbon dioxide emissions is not justified. As I have stated before, there is a preponderance of evidence that carbon dioxide does not control Earth’s temperature. The hiatus in warming at the beginning of this centenary happened when CO2 was continuing to climb at the same rate. A few have challenged that the hiatus existed, but the climate activists of the time validated it by coming up with 64 excuses as to why it was happening. One of the most compelling is that 40% of the warming blamed on man occurred between 1910 and 1941 when the carbon dioxide levels were relatively low and raising very slowly. It appears that the mini ice age, roman and medieval warm periods happened with no large change in carbon dioxide concentrations. The hot years of 125 K years ago happened with CO2 at 280 ppm. The climate change movement has simply ignored real world data and replaced it with computer models.