Last year was the first calendar year with a a global mean near-surface temperature more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, with an average temperature of 1.55°C, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has said.
According to the WMO’s State of the Global Climate report, this is 0.13°C higher than the 1850–1900 average, making 2024 the warmest year in the 175-year observational record.
The report also notes that atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide is now at its highest level in the last 800,000 years, measuring 420.0 parts per million in 2023.
Globally, each of the past ten years (from 2015 to 2024) were individually the ten warmest years on record, while each of the past eight years has set a new record for ocean heat content, the UN body said.
‘Distress signals’
“Our planet is issuing more distress signals – but this report shows that limiting long-term global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius is still possible,”commented United Nations secretary general António Guterres. “Leaders must step up to make it happen – seizing the benefits of cheap, clean renewables for their people and economies – with new National climate plans due this year.”
Other findings from the WMO’s report indicate that the three lowest Antarctic ice extents were in the past three years, while arctic sea-ice extent recorded its 18 lowest annual minimum levels over the past 18 years.
In addition, the three-year period from 2022 to 2024 saw the largest recorded glacier mass loss, while the rate of sea level rise has doubled compared to measurements taken in the 1990s.
“While a single year above 1.5 °C of warming does not indicate that the long-term temperature goals of the Paris Agreement are out of reach, it is a wake-up call that we are increasing the risks to our lives, economies and to the planet,” added WMO secretary general Celeste Saulo.
Factors driving temperature rise
The record temperatures in 2023 and 2024 were driven by a number of factors, including increased greenhouse gas emissions, the shift from La Niña to El Niño conditions, changes to the solar cycle, volcanic activity, and a decrease in cooling aerosols.
The warming rate in the oceans between 2005 and 2024 was more than double the rate observed between 1960 and 2005, it added.
“Data for 2024 show that our oceans continued to warm, and sea levels continued to rise,” Saulo said. “The frozen parts of Earth’s surface, known as the cryosphere, are melting at an alarming rate: glaciers continue to retreat, and Antarctic sea ice reached its second-lowest extent ever recorded. Meanwhile, extreme weather continues to have devastating consequences around the world.”
‘Horrifying impacts’
Commenting on the WMO’s report, Prof Jean-Claude Burgelman, director of the Frontiers Planet Prize, said, “Extreme weather caused by human induced climate change is exposing people around the world to the horrifying impacts of intense heat, flooding and storms. The WMO’s ‘State of the Global Climate’ report provides yet further scientific evidence – if more were needed – that our window of opportunity to avoid irreversible tipping points is closing.
“Faced with climate volatility, scientific research and innovation has never been more vital. We need collaboration and commitment, not ideological threats to research, scientific evidence and innovation. This will allow us to protect people and planet.
“Addressing the environmental risks facing our world requires bold approaches. By uncovering at a global scale the most groundbreaking ideas, empowering scientists at the forefront of research, and fostering a unified, strategic global effort, we can develop pragmatic solutions to avert catastrophe.” Read more here.
