Scientists have confirmed that the planet experienced its first full year with average global temperatures exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, Al Jazeera reports.
The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) announced that this milestone signifies a worrying progression in the climate crisis, pushing global temperatures to unprecedented levels.
The data shows that every month of 2024 was among the warmest or second-warmest for that month in recorded history. The average global temperature for the year was 1.6 degrees Celsius higher than the period between 1850 and 1900, commonly referred to as the pre-industrial era.
While this does not mean the 1.5-degree threshold, agreed upon by world governments to avert the worst impacts of climate change, has been permanently breached, experts say it is an alarming sign of how quickly the planet is warming. The accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, primarily from burning fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas, is the main cause of these record temperatures. Scientists say that as these gases continue to build up, temperatures will continue to rise, impacting not only the atmosphere but also the oceans, sea levels, and ice sheets.
Notably, 2024’s average temperature surpassed 2023’s by an unusually large margin, more than an eighth of a degree Celsius. Until recent years, temperature records were usually only broken by hundredths of a degree, demonstrating the accelerated rate of warming. Scientists highlight that the last decade is the hottest on record and possibly the warmest in 125,000 years. July 10th, 2024 was identified as the hottest day ever recorded for humans.
The UK’s Met Office corroborated 2024’s likely exceedance of the 1.5°C target, though with a slightly lower average temperature rise than that found by C3S. US scientists are also expected to publish their 2024 climate data.
Global Impacts of Warming Planet
In 2015, international agreements were made on the necessity of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius to prevent catastrophic climate change repercussions. However, the world is not on track to meet this target.
The effects of climate change are already impacting people around the world. Examples include severe wildfires in California, which have caused loss of life and massive property damage. Additionally, Bolivia and Venezuela experienced destructive fires, while several countries were impacted by severe floods. Heatwaves also took a terrible toll on Mexico and Saudi Arabia. The rise in global temperatures has also exacerbated storms and rainfall due to an increase in atmospheric water vapor levels.
Despite the increasing global costs of climate change, political action to reduce emissions has waned in some nations. The incoming US president has previously dismissed the consensus on human-caused climate change.
Experts emphasize that this milestone should serve as an alarm for political leaders to address climate change more decisively. They add that nations are still failing to fulfil their responsibilities despite scientific warnings.
