illuminem summarizes for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on The New York Times or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: January 2024 has been recorded as the hottest January ever, with ocean surface temperatures also hitting record highs
• This continued warmth follows the exceptional heat experienced globally last summer, marking a trend of rising temperatures across the planet

🔭 The context: The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service highlights that this trend is driven by human activities such as fossil fuel burning and deforestation, alongside the current El Niño weather cycle
• This prolonged period of warmth is contributing to a series of environmental challenges, including more intense hurricanes, disrupted marine life, and increased forest fires in regions like central Chile

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: The oceans, absorbing most of the excess heat from greenhouse gas emissions, serve as a critical indicator of the accelerating pace of global warming
• This situation underscores the urgent need for rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to prevent further temperature increases and mitigate the impacts on the planet's climate and ecosystems

⏭️ What's next: Scientists are debating the specific reasons for the recent sustained high temperatures, suggesting that less predictable factors may also be influencing the climate
• Continued research and data collection are essential to understand these dynamics fully and to inform effective climate action strategies

💬 One quote: "Rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are the only way to stop global temperatures increasing," (Samantha Burgess, Copernicus’s deputy director)

📈 One stat: January 2024 saw sea surface temperatures just slightly lower than in August 2023, the oceans' warmest month on record, indicating the unprecedented extent of the warming trend

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