Hottest year on record sees global temperature rise 1.5°C for first time in 2024

Climate crisis
Hottest year on record  sees global temperature rise 1.5°C for first time in  2024.
Record highs have fueled extreme weather  events - and the worst is yet to come, EU data  shows
Climate change pushed annual global  temperatures above the internationally agreed target  of 1.5°C for the first time last year,  amplifying extreme weather  events and causing  "misery for millions" of  people.
The average temperature in 2024 was  1.6°C above  pre-industrial levels,  according to data from the  EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service  (C3S). This is a jump of  0.1°C compared to 2023, which was also a record  year, and represents levels of heat  not previously experienced by modern  humans.
The warming is caused  largely by the burning of fossil fuels, and the damage to  life and livelihoods  around the world will continue to  worsen until coal, oil and gas are replaced. The Paris  Agreement's 1.5°C target is measured over a decade or two, so a single year above that level  doesn't mean the target has been missed, but  it does show  that l The climate emergency continues to intensify. Every year in the past decade has been  among the 10  hottest on record, going back to  1850.
The C3S data also shows that a record 44% of the planet was affected by extreme heat stress on 10 July 2024, and the hottest day  on record occurred on 22  July.
"There is now an extremely high  probability that we will  exceed the long-term average of  1.5°C within the Paris  Agreement limit,"  said Dr Samantha Burgess,  Deputy Director of C3S. "These high global temperatures,  combined with record  levels of global atmospheric water vapour in 2024,  have led to unprecedented  heat waves and heavy  rainfall, causing misery for millions of  people." »
Dr Friederike Otto,  of Imperial College London, said: "This record  should serve as a  wake-up call. A year of extreme weather  has shown how dangerous life is at  1.5°C. Floods in Valencia, hurricanes in the United States, typhoons in the Philippines and  drought in the Amazon are just four disasters  in the past year that  have been exacerbated by climate change. There are many, many  more. »
"The world  does not need to  find a  magic solution to  prevent the situation from getting worse in  2025," said Otto. "We know exactly what we need to do to  move away from fossil fuels,  end deforestation and make societies more  resilient."
Carbon emissions in 2024 are expected to have  reached a new  record, meaning  that there is  still no sign of the transition from fossil fuels  promised by the nations  of the world at the  meeting of the climate conference in Dubai in December 2023. The world is on a  path to catastrophe. Global warming of  2.7°C by the end of the  century.
The next big opportunity  to act comes in  February, when countries have to submit new  emission reduction pledges to the UN. The likelihood of  staying below the  1.5°C limit, even  in the  long term, looks increasingly  slim. Fossil fuel emissions  need to fall by 45% by 2030 to have  any chance of limiting  warming to  1.5°C. Several other major temperature analyses are  due to be published on Friday and  show similar levels of  warming, including  one from the UK Met  Office, which also found  that 2024  was above 1.5C.
Temperatures were boosted in the first half of 2024 by the natural El Niño  weather phenomenon, but remained very high in the second half of the  year, even  as El Niño dissipated. Some scientists fear  that an unexpected factor  may have come into play, causing a worrying acceleration  in global  warming, although unusual natural  variations from year to year could also be  to blame. Reduced pollution from  transportation and low-level clouds,  which both reflect sunlight, have contributed  to the additional warming, but scientists are still searching for a full explanation  for the extreme temperatures  of 2024.
Warmer air holds more water  vapor, and the record C3S in 2024 is significant  because it increases extreme  precipitation and  flooding. It also combines with high sea surface temperatures, which  fuel large storms, to fuel  destructive hurricanes and typhoons.  Last year, the average person was exposed to six  more weeks of dangerously hot days, intensifying the  deadly impact of  heat waves around the world.
The extreme  climate overload from the climate crisis was already  evident, with  heat waves of previously impossible intensity and frequency  hitting people around the world, along with  more severe droughts and  fires. Professor Joeri Rogelj,  of Imperial College London, said: "Every fraction of a degree – whether  it's 1.4°C, 1.5°C or  1.6°C –  is more  damaging to people and ecosystems, underscoring the need for  continued efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The cost of solar and wind  power has fallen rapidly and is now cheaper than fossil fuels in many  countries."
Professor Andrew Dessler, a  climatologist at Texas  A&M University in the US, has responded to  the new temperature records set year after year by  making the same statement to the media: "Every year for the rest of your life will be one of the  coldest. "The warmest ever recorded. That means 2024 will end up being  one of the coldest years of this century.  Take advantage of it while  you can.

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