Causes:

• In the three weeks since Trump’s inauguration, his administration has already taken steps to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, halted the distribution of billions in federal grant funds allocated by two key climate laws, and swiftly dismissed or placed hundreds of Environmental Protection Agency staff members on administrative leave.

• According to Bloomberg News, senior leaders at the Department of Homeland Security have been ordered by Trump to “eliminate all climate change activities and the use of climate change terminology in DHS policies and programs, to the fullest extent allowed by law." The changes aim to ensure “alignment” with President Trump’s executive orders, which undo several climate-related directives issued by former President Joe Biden.

• Copernicus published their summary charts for 2024. The number of days exceeding 1.5ºC above the pre-industrial average during 2024 was staggering. All of the 366 days in the year were above 1.25ºC and three quarters of them were above 1.5ºC. The difference in number of days above 1.5ºC compared to the previous years is striking.

Impacts:

• Below is another of the 2024 summary charts from Copernicus. It shows water vapour anomalies based on the most recent reference - 1992-2020. As the atmosphere warms, it holds more water vapour (up to 7% more for each additional degree Celsius.)

• This increased moisture in the atmosphere makes the occurrence of extreme precipitation more likely. The increased surface evaporation from the warmer oceans and the increased capacity of the atmosphere to hold moisture influenced this record.

Impacts:

• January 2025 was the warmest January since records began by some margin. After 2024's average temperature breaking through the +1.5°C barrier, climate scientists expected 2025 to be cooler given that La Niña was developing in the Pacific. For reasons they cannot explain, the year has begun with far higher temperatures than expected. This does not bode well for the rest of 2025.

Program of the EU, Copernicus C3S, Climate Change Service, ECMWF

• Canada, Eastern Europe, Russia, central Australia, parts of sub-Saharan Africa and much of the Antarctic were a staggering 5 degrees warmer than the 1991-2020 average January temperatures. Note that this reference figure is NOT pre-industrial but just a few years ago. In places, January was 7 degrees warmer.

Program of the EU, Copernicus C3S, Climate Change Service, ECMWF

• Global daily sea surface temperatures for January 2025 were the second highest on record, only exceeded by January 2024.

• Arctic sea ice extent in January was the joint lowest on record, according to C3S, and the second lowest according to NOAA.

Impacts:

• Climate change was a major factor behind the hot, dry weather that gave rise to the devastating Los Angeles fires, a scientific study has confirmed.

• It made those weather conditions about 35% more likely, according to World Weather Attribution - globally recognised for their studies linking extreme weather to climate change.

• The authors noted that the LA wildfire season is getting longer while the rains that normally put out the blazes have reduced.

• The scientists highlight that these wildfires are highly complex with multiple factors playing a role, but they are confident that a warming climate is making LA more prone to intense fire events.