2024 confirmed to be warmest year on record globally: Copernicus

BRUSSELS - The year 2024 is confirmed to be the warmest year globally since record began in 1850, the EU-funded Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Friday.

2024 also marks the first calendar year in which the average global temperature exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial level, a critical threshold set by the Paris Agreement, according to the European climate body.

In 2024, the global average temperature was 15.1 degrees Celsius, 0.12 degrees Celsius above 2023, the previous warmest year on record. This is equivalent to 1.6 degrees Celsius above an estimate of the pre-industrial level, Copernicus said.

The statement added that the two-year average for 2023 and 2024 also exceeded the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold above its pre-industrial level.

The Paris Agreement seeks to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level, with an aspiration to cap it at 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century.

"While this does not mean we have breached the limit set by the Paris Agreement — this refers to temperature anomalies averaged over at least 20 years — it underscores that global temperatures are rising beyond what modern humans have ever experienced," the statement noted.

Data from the climate change service indicates that the total amount of water vapour in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2024, at about 5 percent above the 1991-2020 average, and significantly higher than in 2023.

"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," said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate of the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF).

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, C3S climate scientist Julien Nicolas attributed the extreme temperatures primarily to human-induced climate change, adding that other factors, such as the El Nino Southern Oscillation — a natural climate pattern that warms ocean surface temperatures in the Pacific — also contributed to the high temperatures observed during the year.

Recognizing the urgency of the situation, C3S Director Carlo Buontempo emphasized, "the future is in our hands — swift and decisive action can still alter the trajectory of our future climate."