Climate Change in 2024 Hit a Warming Mark Scientists Hoped We Would Avoid
Two years ago, at the United Nations COP27 climate conference In Egypt, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that global leaders need to Address greenhouse gas emissions By 2100, temperatures will rise no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
2025 has just begun and we’ve already crossed that threshold.
According to climate scientists from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, global temperatures have reached A record high in 2024an increase of 1.6 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, making the year the hottest since records began in 1850. Global temperatures increased by 2.88 degrees Fahrenheit.
according to a Copernicus Report Data released on Friday showed that the global average temperature this year is 15.10 degrees Celsius (59.18 degrees Fahrenheit). “This is equivalent to a temperature increase of 1.6 degrees Celsius above estimated pre-industrial levels between 1850 and 1900,” the report said.
The annual report comes the same week that Los Angeles residents are faced with disastrous wildfires That More than 9,000 buildings were razed to the ground, killing at least 10 people. Globally, the climate crisis is increasing the severity and frequency of climate change natural disasterincluding droughts, hurricanes and floods.
Samantha Burgess, head of climate strategy at the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, who contributed to the report, noted that rising temperatures are an important factor in climate-related disasters around the world.
“Global high temperatures, combined with record global atmospheric water vapor levels in 2024, will mean unprecedented heatwaves and heavy rainfall events, causing suffering for millions of people,” Burgess said in a statement.
Other highlights from the report:
- According to Copernicus, each year between 2015 and 2024 has been one of the hottest 10 years on record.
- On July 22, 2024, the global daily average temperature broke the record, reaching 17.16 degrees Celsius, or 62.89 degrees Fahrenheit.
- All continental regions except Antarctica and Australia experienced their warmest years on record.
Scientists attribute this climate change to human causes, specifically carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. Increase Home energy use and Artificial intelligence technology requires a lot of energy The task of reducing dependence on fossil fuels is not getting any easier.
