This was the fifth-warmest January ever

The global temperature in January ranked among the five warmest on record in January, states a report by the US government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The NOAA global temperature dataset record dates back to 1880.

The January temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.28°F above the 20th century average of 53.6°F and the fifth highest for the Januarys on record.

The January globally-averaged land surface temperature was 2.00°F above the 20th century average of 37.0°F, making it the lowest temperature fluctuation from average since 2013 and the eighth highest January land global temperature in the record.

The January globally averaged sea surface temperature was 1.01°F above the 20th century monthly average of 60.5°F – tying with 1998 as the fifth highest global ocean temperature for January in the 1880-2018 record, the NOAA report says.

The Earth's polar regions continued to experience record-low ice conditions, the NOAA report states.

The January average Arctic sea ice extent was at 525,000 square miles (9.4 percent) below the 1981-2010 average, the smallest in the 39-year record, the report states.

Antarctic sea ice extent during January was 340,000 square miles (17.4 percent) below the 1981-2010 average, the second smallest January extent on record.