2024 was the first year where global temperatures breached the key warming threshold of 1.5C
The Earth has suffered its hottest year on record, as the planet moves ever closer to breaking the crucial 1.5C of warming that could trigger a climate catastrophe.
On Friday, the European Copernicus climate service, which is one of the main global data providers, said global average temperatures for 2024 were around 1.6C above those of the pre-industrial period.
This broke the record set in 2023 by just over 0.1C.
2024 was also the first year that global temperatures crossed the symbolic 1.5C threshold. In 2015, the 1.5C figures was agreed by the international community as the limit by which temperatures should be allowed to rise by.
It is widely acknowledged that if the planet’s average temperature rises by 1.5C, the risks of climate change will exponentially increase and have catestrophic consequences for Earth.
The temperatures of 2024 do not mean the 1.5C threshold has been broken, because the global average temperature refers is taken over several decades. However, it does mean the planet is continuing to warm due to fossil fuel emissions, and is showing no sign of slowing down.
At the current rate of global warming, Earth would pass the 1.5C threshold by the early 2030s, the BBC reports.
Colin Morice of the Met Office explained: “A single year exceeding 1.5C above pre-industrial does not mean a breach of the Paris Agreement 1.5C guard rail – that would require a temperature of at least 1.5C on average over a longer period.
“However, it does show that the headroom to avoid an exceedance of 1.5C, over a sustained period, is now wafer thin.”
The Met Office, Nasa and other climate groups will release their data for 2024 later on Friday. All are expected to agree that it was the hottest year on record.
Dr Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at Berkeley Earth, a research group in the US, said the temperatures in 2023 and 2024 “surprised most climate scientists.”
He told the BBC: “We didn’t think we’d be seeing a year above 1.5C this early.”
But he added: “Even if 1.5 degrees is out the window, we still can probably limit warming to 1.6C, 1.7C or 1.8C this century.
“That’s going to be far, far better than if we keep burning coal, oil and gas unabated and end up at 3C or 4C – it still really matters.”
In his New Year message last week, UN chief António Guterres described the recent run of temperature records as “climate breakdown”.
“We must exit this road to ruin – and we have no time to lose,” he said.
Rising global temperatures make extreme weather conditions such as heatwaves, droughts, and strong tropical storms more likely.
Just this week, Los Angeles has been ravaged by wildfires, fuelled by strong winds and extremely dry conditions. Experts agree conditions conducive to fires like the ones in California are more likely because of climate change.
UK climate minister Kerry McCarthy said: “Breaching the 1.5C target sends a clear signal: there is much more work to be done to keep 1.5C within reach and prevent climate catastrophe.
“The scale of the challenge is huge, but through collective action we can deliver change at the scale and pace required.”
She added: “Not only is this crucial for our planet, it is the economic opportunity of the 21st century.
“Through our clean energy superpower mission this government is showing what can be done – tackling the climate crisis while creating new jobs, delivering energy security and attracting new investment into the UK.”
