News release: “Last month was the 17th warmest January for combined global land and ocean surface temperature since records began in 1880. La Niña, with its cooling effect on the central and eastern tropical Pacific, continues to be a factor in global ocean temperatures. The monthly analysis from NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center is part of the suite of climate services NOAA provides government, business and community leaders so they can make informed decisions…The average Arctic sea ice extent for January was 5.23 million square miles (13.55 million square km), which was 8.7 percent below average. This ranks as the smallest January Arctic sea ice extent since records began in 1979 and the second consecutive month with record low Arctic ice extent.”