The World Smashed Past Over 1.5°C Global Warming In 2024, Says WMO Report

The global mean near-surface temperature last year was approximately 1.55°C (2.79°F) above the 1850 to 1900 average, making it the warmest year since records began over 175 years ago, according to the WMO’s State of the Global Climate report.

This is an important milestone. At the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015, international leaders agreed to keep global warming “well below 2°C [3.6°F] above pre-industrial levels” with the ambition to limit this to just 1.5°C. It looks like those hopes are fading away, although redemption may still be possible. 

“While exceeding 1.5C global warming for just 1 year does not mean we’ve permanently crossed this ominous threshold, it’s a sure sign that we’re well on the way, and likely earlier than we originally thought. This therefore puts the 2C threshold under serious threat sooner, particularly when combined with drastic changes in global politics we’re seeing played out in real time,” Professor Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, a professor at the ANU Fenner School of Environment and Society, and Deputy Director (communications) for the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Weather of the 21st Century, said in a statement. 

The temperature increase is directly linked to the ongoing rise in greenhouse gas emissions – which trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere – as well as the shift from a cooling La Niña to a warming El Niño event – a natural variation that is associated with warmer global temperatures. 

“WMO’s State of the Global Climate 2024 is a reminder that the global climate is warming, very, very fast. This warming brings myriad impacts on ecosystems and human societies, which the world must now contend with,” explained Dr Zoë Loh, a Senior Research Scientist at the CSIRO Environment.

“Overwhelmingly, our climate is warming because atmospheric carbon dioxide, a by-product of fossil fuel extraction and use, continues unabated. We now live in an atmosphere richer in CO2 than it has been for at least 800,000 years. Along with record concentrations of methane and nitrous oxide, atmospheric composition is turbo-charging warming and its impacts,” she added.

Here are some other important – and equally concerning – findings from the report:

• Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have reached their highest point in at least 800,000 years.
• Each of the past 10 years ranks among the 10 hottest ever recorded globally.
• Ocean heat content has broken new records for the past eight consecutive years.
• The Arctic has seen its 18 lowest sea-ice extents in the last 18 years.
• Antarctic sea ice has shrunk to its three lowest extents on record within the past three years.
• The past three years have witnessed the most significant loss of glacier mass ever recorded over such a period.
• The rate of sea level rise has doubled since satellite monitoring began.

Commenting on the findings, experts said they were worrying, but not wholly surprising given the long reel of climate records that have been shattered in recent decades, plus the lack of meaningful global action to stem the situation. The question is: when will world leaders stop pressing the snooze button on this alarm?

“I think I can speak on behalf of all climate scientists when I say that none of us are surprised by this report. Dismayed? Yes. Exasperated? Disappointed? Concerned? Worried? Yes to all these too. But we are not surprised because we have been warning of these changes for decades now,” added Professor Perkins-Kirkpatrick.

“Honestly, what IS it going to take for the wake-up call to be taken seriously? How much more do we need to scream and shout that climate change is happening, it’s because of us, and without any serious action, it’s only going to get worse? The longer this goes in, the harder it will be to make things better.”