The year 2024 was the hottest on record, with global temperatures surpassing 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for the first time, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced Friday. This milestone underscores the accelerating pace of climate change and raises concerns about more frequent and severe climate-related disasters.
According to the WMO and the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the planet’s average temperature in 2024 was 1.6°C higher than the 1850–1900 pre-industrial baseline. This breach of the 1.5°C threshold — a key target set under the 2015 Paris Agreement — signals worsening impacts on ecosystems and human societies worldwide. The last decade has seen all ten of the hottest years on record, with 2024 marking a new high.
“The trajectory is just incredible,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of C3S, emphasizing that every month in 2024 was the warmest or second-warmest for that month since records began.
The announcement comes as California grapples with devastating wildfires, which have killed at least 10 people and destroyed nearly 10,000 structures this week. Wildfires are among the many disasters exacerbated by rising global temperatures. Scientists warn that without aggressive climate action, such extreme weather events will only grow more frequent and intense.
“Global heating is a cold, hard fact,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in a statement. “There’s still time to avoid the worst of climate catastrophe. But leaders must act — now.”
Despite widespread scientific consensus linking human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels, to global warming, political action has lagged in many countries. President-elect Donald Trump, set to take office on January 20, has previously dismissed climate change as a hoax, casting doubt on the U.S.’s commitment to global climate goals.
Matthew Jones, a climate scientist at the University of East Anglia, cautioned that fire-prone weather like California’s is likely to worsen “so long as progress on tackling the root causes of climate change remains sluggish.”
In Europe, political momentum for climate action has also faltered, with some governments prioritizing industrial competitiveness over environmental policies. EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra stressed the urgency of the situation, stating that the 1.5°C breach should serve as a wake-up call. “It is extremely complicated, in a very difficult geopolitical setting, but we don’t have an alternative,” he told Reuters.
Chukwumerije Okereke, a climate governance expert at the University of Bristol, called the breach a “rude awakening” for global leaders to prioritize climate commitments.
Global climate agencies, including Britain’s Met Office and U.S. scientists, are expected to release their full 2024 climate data shortly, further confirming the year’s record-breaking status. As the world enters 2025, the need for urgent and coordinated climate action has never been clearer.
