2024: Hottest Year on Record, Exceeding 1.5°C Threshold

The year 2024 marked a grim milestone as the hottest year ever recorded, surpassing the previous record set in 2023. Data indicates that the annual average temperature exceeded pre-industrial levels by 1.55 degrees Celsius. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) attributes this to greenhouse gas emissions, exacerbated by the El Niño weather pattern in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Ocean temperatures also reached record highs, contributing to coral bleaching, intensified tropical storms, accelerated melting of Arctic and Antarctic ice, and rising sea levels. The rate of sea level rise has increased from 2.1 millimeters per year between 1993 and 2002 to 4.7 millimeters per year between 2015 and 2024. Glacier losses reached record levels, and climate change displaced more people than in the past 16 years. Tropical cyclones, floods, and droughts affected millions globally, leading to acute food insecurity for over a million people in at least eight countries.