2024 Confirmed as Hottest Year on Record, Surpassing 1.55°C Warming Threshold

Jan 13, 2025, 11:06 AM

The year 2024 has been confirmed as the hottest on record, with global temperatures surpassing the critical 1.5-degree Celsius warming threshold above pre-industrial levels for the first time. This milestone was reported by multiple authoritative sources, including the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), NASA, and the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service. The average temperature in 2024 was 1.55 degrees Celsius higher than the pre-industrial period, marking a significant increase from previous years. The WMO noted that the past decade, from 2015 to 2024, has been the warmest on record, highlighting the urgency for climate action. The Copernicus service reported that the average surface air temperature was 15.10 degrees Celsius, which is 1.60 degrees above the pre-industrial estimate. This temperature surge was accompanied by record-high ocean temperatures, with warming observed down to 2000 meters, and extreme weather events globally, including heatwaves, droughts, and flooding.