According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), 2024 is on track to become the hottest year ever recorded, with global average temperatures 1.54°C above pre-industrial levels during the first nine months of the year.
This marks a significant milestone in the ongoing trend of global warming, which has been intensified by an El Niño event.
The WMO’s State of the Climate 2024 Update, issued on the first day of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, emphasizes the accelerating pace of climate change.
The report notes that the past decade (2015-2024) has been the warmest on record, with ocean heat content also reaching record highs and the Antarctic experiencing some of the lowest levels of sea ice since satellite measurements began in 1979.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: “Climate catastrophe is hammering health, widening inequalities, harming sustainable development, and rocking the foundations of peace. The vulnerable are hardest hit.”
Despite 2024’s temporary temperature increase, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo stressed that this does not mean the goals of the Paris Agreement are out of reach.
The Paris Agreement focuses on long-term temperature trends, not short-term fluctuations caused by phenomena like El Niño.
However, the WMO highlights that every fraction of a degree of warming increases the risks and impacts of climate extremes.
Global greenhouse gas concentrations have also reached record levels, with carbon dioxide (CO2) continuing to rise, trapping heat in the atmosphere.
Ocean temperatures have been particularly affected, with oceans absorbing more heat than the world’s total energy consumption in 2023.
Sea levels are rising at an accelerating rate, driven by thermal expansion and the melting of glaciers and ice sheets.
Glacier loss has also worsened, with the largest ice loss recorded in 2023.
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