The year 2024 has been officially recorded as the hottest year on Earth, surpassing the critical 1.5°C temperature rise threshold for the first time since preindustrial times. This surge in temperature is primarily attributed to climate breakdown, supercharging extreme weather events that have caused widespread suffering.
Data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) reveals that the average global temperature in 2024 was 1.6°C above preindustrial levels. This represents a 0.1°C increase from 2023, which was also a record-setting year. The result is an unprecedented level of heat never before experienced by modern humans.
The primary driver of this extreme warming is the ongoing burning of fossil fuels. The damage to both lives and livelihoods is expected to intensify unless drastic steps are taken to phase out coal, oil, and gas. While the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target is measured over decades, the rise in temperatures this year highlights the ongoing escalation of the climate emergency.
The C3S data further reveals alarming statistics, including a record 44% of the planet experiencing strong to extreme heat stress on July 10, 2024. On July 22, the hottest day in recorded history occurred.
“There’s now an extremely high likelihood that we will overshoot the long-term average of 1.5C in the Paris agreement limit,” said Dr. Samantha Burgess, deputy director at C3S. “These high global temperatures, coupled with record global atmospheric water vapour levels in 2024, meant unprecedented heatwaves and heavy rainfall events, causing misery for millions of people.”
