2024 confirmed Earth’s hottest year ever, alarming 1.6°C rise in temperatures: Report
2024 has officially become the hottest year on record, with global temperatures soaring 1.6°C above pre-industrial levels. This alarming trend highlights the urgent need for climate action as greenhouse gas concentrations reach unprecedented levels, leading to extreme weather events.
Year 2024 has been adjudged the hottest year on Earth, with a record global average temperature of 15.1°Celsius, overtaking 2023 by 0.12°Celsius, the latest report by Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) revealed.
This is also the first calendar year in which the average global temperature exceeded 1.5°Celsius above its pre-industrial level, the report said.
The global average temperature of 15.1°Celsius was 0.72°Celsius above the 1991-2020 average, and 0.12°Celsius above 2023, according to the report. This is equivalent to 1.60° Celsius above an estimate of the 1850-1900 temperature, designated to be the pre-industrial level, it said.
"All of the internationally produced global temperature datasets show that 2024 was the hottest year since records began in 1850. Humanity is in charge of its own destiny but how we respond to the climate challenge should be based on evidence. The future is in our hands - swift and decisive action can still alter the trajectory of our future climate,” Carlo Buontempo, Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), said in the report.
Copernicus Programme
The C3S is one of the six thematic services provided by the European Union's Copernicus Programme managed by the European Commission. The C3S is implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).
The C3S report comes a day after firefighters battled to control a series of major fires in the Los Angeles, in the United States, that have killed five people, ravaged communities from the Pacific Coast to Pasadena and sent thousands of people frantically fleeing their homes. Thousands of structures have been damaged or destroyed in the hilly coastal neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, making it the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history.
The year 2024 was set to be the warmest on record, capping a decade of unprecedented heat fuelled by human activities, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
“Today I can officially report that we have just endured a decade of deadly heat. The top ten hottest years on record have happened in the last ten years, including 2024,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message for the New Year, 2025.
Some of the highlights of the report are :
-2024 is confirmed as the hottest year on record with a global average temperature of 15.10°C, overtaking 2023, the previous warmest year, by 0.12°C.
-2024 is 1.60°C above an estimate of the pre-industrial level, making it the first calendar year to exceed the 1.5°C limit.
-The past 10 years (2015–2024) were the 10 warmest on record.
-Since July 2023, except for July 2024, every month has exceeded the 1.5°C threshold. The average for 2023-2024 is 1.54°C.
-2024 was the warmest year for all continents, except Antarctica and Australasia.
-A new record high for daily global average temperature was reached on July 22, 2024, at 17.16°C, according to ERA5.
-Antarctic sea ice extent reached record or near-record low values for the second year in a row. From June to October, the monthly extent ranked second lowest behind 2023 and lowest in November.
Humanity is in charge of its own destiny but how we respond to the climate challenge should be based on evidence.
-In 2024, greenhouse gases saw their highest annual levels ever recorded in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide column-averaged concentrations reached 422 ppm, 2.9 ppm higher than in 2023, and methane reached 1897 ppb, 4 ppb higher than 2023.
-2024 was the year with the highest atmospheric water vapour content on record. As atmospheric water vapour levels increase, heavy rainfall events will become more intense.
Key Takeaways
- 2024 confirmed as the hottest year on record, surpassing 2023 by 0.12°C.
- Greenhouse gas concentrations have reached the highest levels ever recorded, with CO2 at 422 ppm.
- The past decade (2015-2024) has been the warmest on record, emphasizing the urgent need for climate action.
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Business NewsScienceNews2024 confirmed Earth’s hottest year ever, alarming 1.6°C rise in temperatures: Report
First Published:10 Jan 2025, 09:22 AM IST
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