2024 confirmed as hottest year on record, surpassing 1.5°C global warming threshold
2024 has been officially recognised as the warmest year on record. The average global temperature exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for the first time in a calendar year, according to data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).
Last year’s global temperature averaged 1.6°C above the pre-industrial baseline, of 1850-1900. While this does not mean that the limit set by the Paris Agreement has been breached - the symbolic 1.5°C threshold is based on long-term averages spanning decades - experts warn that it highlights the rapid pace of climate change.
"We are now teetering on the edge of passing the 1.5°C level defined in the Paris Agreement and the average of the last two years is already above this level," said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.
"These high global temperatures, coupled with record global atmospheric water vapour levels in 2024, meant unprecedented heatwaves and heavy rainfall events, causing misery for millions of people."
A decade of records
Each of the past 10 years was one of the 10 warmest on record, with 2024 standing out due to its unprecedented temperature highs. Monthly global averages exceeded the 1.5°C threshold for 11 months of the year, with a new record daily high of 17.16°C set on 22 July.
Oceans also experienced record-breaking temperatures: the annual sea surface temperature reached 20.87°C, the highest ever recorded. The North Atlantic, Indian Ocean and western Pacific all experienced their warmest year ever.
"These high global temperatures ... meant unprecedented heatwaves and heavy rainfall events, causing misery for millions of people"
The exceptional heat was driven primarily by human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. Natural factors such as the El Niño weather pattern also contributed. El Niño conditions, which typically warm the tropical Pacific Ocean, peaked in December 2023 and continued to influence global temperatures in the first half of 2024. However, the phenomenon was secondary to the impact of rising carbon dioxide levels, experts say.
An apartment building burns in California © PHOTO JOSH EDELSON / AFP
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