2024-on-track-to-break-the-record-as-the-warmest-year-ever

According to the European climate agency Copernicus, 2024 is on track to be the warmest year ever recorded, with an average temperature expected to surpass 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

 

The agency confirmed that November 2024 was the second-warmest November in history, with surface air temperatures averaging 14.10°C – 0.73°C higher than the 1991–2020 average for the month.

 

November 2024 also marked another worrying milestone, with temperatures 1.62°C above pre-industrial levels, and it became the 16th month in the past 17 to exceed the critical 1.5°C threshold.

 

For India, November 2024 was the second warmest since records began in 1901, with the average maximum temperature at 29.37°C, 0.62°C above the usual.

 

As of November 2024, global average temperatures were 0.72°C above the 1991–2020 average, the highest ever recorded for this period, surpassing the corresponding period in 2023 by 0.14°C.

 

Copernicus confirmed that 2024 will surpass 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, making it the warmest year recorded to date. The highest recorded year so far, 2023, was 1.48°C above pre-industrial levels.

 

Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) for November 2024 were also the second-highest ever, reaching 20.58°C, just 0.13°C below the November 2023 record.

 

Despite some movement towards neutral or La Nina conditions in the equatorial Pacific, sea surface temperatures remain unusually high across many ocean regions.

 

Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), stated, "With Copernicus data in from the penultimate month of the year, we can now confirm with virtual certainty that 2024 will be the warmest year on record and the first calendar year above 1.5 degrees Celsius. This does not mean the Paris Agreement has been breached, but it underscores the urgent need for ambitious climate action."

 

The Paris Agreement, which was adopted in 2015, aims to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change.

 

Earth's surface temperature has already risen by around 1.3°C compared to the 1850-1900 average due to the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases.

 

This significant warming is driving record droughts, wildfires, and floods globally.