Planet breaks fever mark in hottest year on record

Earth’s average temperature surpassed the critical 1.5C warming threshold for the first time in 2024, reaching 1.6C above pre-industrial levels, according to new data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

The unprecedented rise, primarily driven by fossil fuel emissions, marks a 0.1C increase from the previous record set in 2023 and represents heat levels not experienced in modern human history.

Record-breaking extreme weather events characterised the year, with 44 percent of the planet experiencing strong to extreme heat stress on July 10, whilst July 22 marked the hottest day ever recorded.

Dr Samantha Burgess, deputy director at C3S, warned that exceeding the Paris Agreement’s long-term 1.5C target average now appears “extremely likely”.

The surge in temperatures, combined with record atmospheric water vapour levels, led to unprecedented heatwaves and rainfall events that “caused misery for millions,” she said.

Carbon emissions reached new heights in 2024, despite global pledges made at the UN climate conference in Dubai. Current trajectories suggest 2.7C of warming by century’s end, far exceeding the Paris Agreement goals.

Scientists attribute part of 2024’s temperature spike to the El Niño weather phenomenon, though temperatures remained elevated even after it dissipated.

Some researchers are investigating whether additional, unexpected factors may be accelerating global warming.

Dr Friederike Otto of Imperial College London called the record “a reality check,” citing climate change-intensified disasters including the Valencia floods, US hurricanes, Philippines typhoons, and Amazon drought as evidence of increasing dangers at 1.5C of warming.

(with information from The Guardian)