2024 was the hottest year on record. As experts from the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) reported, it made history as the first calendar year in which the global average temperature was more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
On Friday, scientists from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service presented the results of a study carried out in 2024. Experts measured key climate indicators and documented daily, monthly and annual temperature records for the past year. According to them, the main factor behind the extreme increase in air temperature and sea level is climate change caused by human activity. However, other factors such as the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) also contributed to the high temperatures observed throughout the year.
2024. The hottest year on record
The C3S report shows that 2024 was the hottest year on record. The global average temperature was 15.1 degrees Celsius, 0.72 degrees above the 1991-2020 average.
– All internationally compiled data sets show that 2024 was the warmest year since records began in 1850. Humanity is in control of its own destiny, and our responses to the climate challenge must be evidence-based. The future is in our hands, urgent and decisive action can still change the trajectory of climate phenomena – said Carlo Buontempo, Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Moreover, the global average temperature in 2024 was 0.12 degrees Celsius warmer than the average of 2023 (the previous warmest year on record).
According to experts, 2024 will be the first calendar year in which the global average temperature will rise by more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.
Surface temperature change in 2024 relative to the 1991-2020 average C3S / ECMWF
The report shows that each of the past 10 years (2015-2024) has been one of the 10 warmest years on record.
According to researchers, the world’s average monthly temperature has risen 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels for 11 months of the year. Going back, all months since July 2023, except July 2024, have exceeded 1.5 degrees.
Last year, a new record of global average daily temperature was also registered. The record was set on July 22, 2024 and was 17.16 degrees.
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The global temperature is rising
The first half of 2024 was particularly warm, with global temperatures higher in each month than in previous years. This contributed to a 13-month streak of record monthly temperatures that ended in June. Global temperature anomalies have remained significantly above average since July. August 2024 was just as warm as August 2023, and the remaining months – from July to December – were the second hottest months, just behind 2023. “In the first half of 2024, the persistently high global monthly mean temperature since the end of summer indicated that it is likely to surpass 2023 as the warmest year on record. Moreover, 2024 was the first year in which the temperature anomaly The average temperature for 2023-2024 is higher than the pre-industrial level by 1.5 degrees Celsius. “This level has exceeded the limit set by the Paris Agreement (which refers to temperature anomalies over a period of at least 20 years), which is evidence that the global temperature will exceed the level experienced by modern humanity,” the scientists wrote. in a press release.
Record temperature in the world PAP/Mateusz Krymski
The hottest year in Europe
2024 was the hottest year in Europe. The average temperature of this area was 10.69 degrees, which is 1.47 degrees higher than the average for 1991-2020.
Spring and summer were the hottest months in recorded history in Europe. The average temperature in March-May was 1.5 degrees higher than the seasonal average of 1991-2020. However, the June-August average temperature was 1.54 degrees above the 1991-2020 seasonal average.
Warmer months around the world PAP/Mateusz Krymski
PAP, Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S)
Main photo source: PAP/EPA/FILIP SINGER
