Last year was the first to breach the key global warming threshold of 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures, scientists said.
New data has confirmed projections that 2024 – a year that brought severe storms, floods, heatwaves, and wildfires – was the hottest year on record globally.
Human-caused climate change was the main driver for record temperatures, as well as the ‘El Nino’ weather phenomenon which raises global temperatures, scientists said.
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The data comes from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), one of the main global data providers.
A separate analysis from the Met Office, University of East Anglia and the National Centre for Atmospheric Science also found 2024 was the hottest on record.
Climate experts warned one year with average temperatures above the threshold did not mean the world had breached its 1.5C limit.
The UK analysis found that the global average temperature in 2024 was 1.53C above the 1850-1900 average, with a margin of error of plus or minus 0.08C, making it likely the first calendar year to exceed 1.5C.
Experts say wildfires ravaging LA have been made worse by climate change -Credit:Getty Images
“This record needs to be a reality check,” said Dr Friederike Otto, Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London.
“The climate is heating to levels we’ve spent years trying to avoid because countries are still burning huge amounts of oil, gas and coal.
“A year of extreme weather showed just how dangerous life is at 1.5°C. The Valencia floods, US hurricanes, Philippines typhoons and Amazon drought are just four disasters last year that were worsened by climate change. There are many, many more.
“The world doesn’t need to come up with a magical solution to stop things from getting worse in 2025. We know exactly what we need to do to transition away from fossil fuels, halt deforestation and make societies more resilient to the changes in the climate we see so clearly in this report.”
Scientists warn we are ‘dangerously close’ to reaching 1.5C of global warming -Credit:Getty Images
Prof Joeri Rogelj, Director of Research at the Grantham Institute – Climate Change and Environment, Imperial College London, said: “A single year with temperatures 1.5°C above preindustrial levels does not mean we’ve reached 1.5°C of global warming. However, it does mean we’re getting dangerously close.
“The Paris Agreement sets limits to global warming not out of convenience but out of the necessity to limit harm to and suffering of people. Even if we surpass 1.5°C in the long term, these reasons don’t change.
“Every fraction of a degree—whether 1.4, 1.5, or 1.6°C—brings more harm to people and ecosystems, underscoring the continued need for ambitious emissions cuts.”
Another scientist has warned that 2025 is unlikely to be as hot as 2024, but people shouldn’t assume climate change is ‘hitting pause or plateauing’.
“There are ups and downs in global temperatures due to natural processes, like El Niño, and a small dip doesn’t change the clear upward trajectory we’re on,” said Dr Paulo Ceppi, Senior Lecturer in Climate Science at the Department of Physics, Imperial College London.
“The recent heat was exacerbated by a decrease in the amount of cloud and sea ice, causing Earth to absorb more sunlight. This confirms climate model predictions of melting sea ice and shrinking cloud cover as the world warms.
“Countries have the power to bring global warming to a halt by reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero. This must happen as quickly as possible to give us some hope of preventing further global climate change catastrophes.”