The world just experienced the first full year in which global temperatures exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times, scientists said on Friday.
Advertisement
The milestone was confirmed by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), which said climate change is pushing the planet’s temperature to levels never before experienced by modern humans.
“The trajectory is just incredible,” C3S director Carlo Buontempo told Reuters, describing how every month in 2024 was the warmest or second-warmest for that month since records began.
The planet’s average temperature in 2024 was 1.6 degrees higher than in 1850-1900, the “pre-industrial period” before humans began burning CO2-emitting fossil fuels on a large scale, C3S said. Last year was the world’s hottest since records began, and each of the past 10 years was among the 10 warmest on record.
Britain’s Met Office confirmed 2024’s likely breach of 1.5 degrees, while estimating a slightly lower average temperature of 1.53 degrees for the year. US scientists will also publish their 2024 climate data on Friday.
Advertisement