Earth Passes Critical Climate Change Threshold in 2024: Scientists

The final global average temperature for 2024 has exceeded a critical threshold, marking the first year to pass a milestone set by world leaders to mitigate climate change. The Copernicus Climate Change Service announced on Friday that 2024 was not only the hottest year since global temperature records began in 1850 but also the first year to cross a threshold aimed at preventing its worst effects.

According to data released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the average annual temperature of 55.5 degrees Fahrenheit in 2024 was 3.3 degrees above the standard, setting a new record for the world.

This warm trend has been mirrored in other regions, including the United States, where NOAA announced that 2024 was the hottest year on record. The climate change service emphasized that this milestone highlights the urgent need for concerted global action to combat climate change and its extreme consequences, such as more frequent heatwaves and severe weather events.

Climate experts pointed out that recent high-temperature trends are not only a concern but also exacerbate greenhouse gas emissions and intensify weather-related disasters. The alarming increase in atmospheric water vapor—record-highest levels observed in 2024 at about 5 percent above the average of 1991-2020—underscored the unprecedented challenges posed by climate change.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service data underscores that severe heatwaves, heavy rainfall events, and other disaster scenarios brought suffering to millions worldwide. "These extreme weather conditions," said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead of climate policy in the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF), were "the direct result of high global temperatures and record levels of atmospheric water vapor."

As the world grapples with the magnitude of this crisis, governments, international organizations, and climate advocates worldwide are urged to work together to take decisive action against climate change.