--- title: Climate Change: Last Month Was the Hottest January on Record description: Last month was the hottest January ever recorded, the ninth straight month to break such a record, government scientists said Wednesday canonical: https://time.com/4228346/january-heat-record/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-17T22:59:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T15:10:30.853Z article:section: Science og:title: Climate Change: Last Month Was the Hottest January on Record og:description: Last month was the hottest January ever recorded, the ninth straight month to break such a record, government scientists said Wednesday og:url: https://time.com/4228346/january-heat-record/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfea72e45ce55378d/69887e1de20a87da77a8f99d/heat-weather.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5760 og:image:height: 3240 og:image:alt: Beachgoers enjoy the hot weather at Coogee Beach on Jan. 13, 2016 in Sydney. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Climate Change: Last Month Was the Hottest January on Record twitter:description: Last month was the hottest January ever recorded, the ninth straight month to break such a record, government scientists said Wednesday twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfea72e45ce55378d/69887e1de20a87da77a8f99d/heat-weather.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Last Month Was the Hottest January on Record > Sponsored content. 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It reaches 40,000 subscribers with a 34.2% open rate and a 2.1% click rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Feb 17, 2016 10:59 PM UTC  Beachgoers enjoy the hot weather at Coogee Beach on Jan. 13, 2016 in Sydney. Beachgoers enjoy the hot weather at Coogee Beach on Jan. 13, 2016 in Sydney. Zak Kaczmarek—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Feb 17, 2016 10:59 PM UTC Last month was the hottest January ever recorded, the ninth straight month to break such a record, [government scientists said](http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/summary-info/global/201601) Wednesday. The average temperature around the globe was 1.87°F (1.04°C) higher than the 20th century average of 53.6°F (12.0°C) in January, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) report. That’s 0.29°F (0.16°C) warmer than the previous January record set in 2007. The record heat comes as[ little surprise to climatologists](http://time.com/4154331/warmest-year-2016-climate-change-el-nino/). The ongoing [El Niño climate pattern](http://time.com/3996227/el-nino-forecast/), potentially the strongest on record, and continuing climate change both led scientists to predict last fall that 2016 would be the warmest year on record. 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