In 2024, the world faced a new, disturbing reality: the average global temperature exceeded the threshold of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for the first time in history. This record was the result of a combination of anthropogenic climate change and the natural climate phenomenon El Niño, which significantly amplified the warming.
Average temperatures have surpassed the symbolic threshold set by the Paris Agreement on climate change. 2024 was marked by mega-forest fires in South America, Canada and Europe, drought in the Amazon and Pantanal, floods in the Sahara and devastating hurricanes in the United States.
Reported by Globo and New Scientist.
New data confirmed that 2024 was the first calendar year when average temperatures exceeded the critical threshold of 1.5°C. Last year was recognized as the hottest in human history, according to the conclusion of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
EU Meteorological Service Copernicus:
2024 was the warmest year since scientific observations began in 1850.
The European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service has data on temperatures for 2024: an increase of 1.6 °C compared to pre-industrial levels was recorded; it also states that the 2024 temperature is 0.12 °C higher than the 2023 record.
What causes the temperature jump?
Scientists agree that the temperature spike was driven largely by continued human-induced climate change and the El Niño weather phenomenon, which tends to raise global temperatures. But the scale and duration of the heatwave shocked many experts, who had expected temperatures to ease after El Niño ended in May 2024. Instead, they remained at record levels for the rest of the year.
According to analytical data, in 2024, the concentration of carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere continued to increase and reached record annual levels in 2024: 422 parts per million (ppm) and 1897 parts per billion (ppb), respectively.
Carbon dioxide concentrations in 2024 were 2.9 ppm higher than in 2023, and methane concentrations were 3 ppm higher.
It is noted that the world's oceans suffered the most, as sea surface temperatures remained at record levels for most of 2024, damaging marine ecosystems.
The year was accompanied by extreme weather conditions on land: intense heat, a sharp decline in polar ice, deadly floods, and uncontrolled forest fires.
All continents broke records.
The center of South America and Mexico was seething like never before
Mega-wildfires, like the one currently burning in Hollywood, have scorched parts of South America, Canada, and Europe. The Amazon and Pantanal have dried up. The Sahara has flooded. Floods in Brazil and Spain have submerged cities.
“This has been a year where the effects of climate change are being felt across the planet,” says David King, former chief scientific adviser to the UK government and founder of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group.
Technically, the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting warming to below 1.5°C is calculated based on a 20-year average, so one year of exceeding the threshold does not formally constitute a breach of the goal. But given the pace of warming in recent years, many scientists argue that the Paris Agreement’s long-term goal is already out of reach.
At the COP29 summit, the EU, the US and other developed countries agreed to increase climate finance to $300 billion annually by 2035. The previous proposal of $250 billion was rejected as insufficient.
