2024: Earth's Hottest Year on Record, EU Scientists Confirm
The year 2024 has officially become the hottest year in
recorded history, with global temperatures soaring beyond previous extremes.
According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), an agency of the European
Union, this unprecedented warmth is expected to persist well into 2025.
Data compiled from January to November confirms that 2024 is
the first year in which global temperatures have exceeded 1.5°C (2.7°F) above
pre-industrial levels recorded between 1850 and 1900. This surpasses the
previous record set in 2023, solidifying a worrying trend of accelerating
climate change.
The impacts of these rising temperatures have been
catastrophic worldwide. Severe droughts devastated Italy and South America, fatal
floods ravaged Nepal, Sudan, and parts of Europe, and deadly heatwaves in
Mexico, Mali, and Saudi Arabia claimed thousands of lives. The United States
and the Philippines also faced disastrous cyclones, further highlighting the
pervasive effects of climate change.
Scientific studies attribute these extreme weather events
directly to human-induced climate change, primarily driven by carbon dioxide
emissions from burning fossil fuels.
Despite a $300 billion climate action deal reached at recent
U.N. climate talks, critics argue the funding falls short of addressing the
mounting costs of climate-related disasters, particularly in poorer nations.
While researchers predict a possible La Niña event in 2025
that could slightly cool global temperatures, experts like Friederike Otto from
Imperial College London caution against complacency. “High temperatures,
heatwaves, droughts, wildfires, and tropical cyclones will remain severe
threats,” she warns.
C3S, which has been monitoring temperatures since 1940, corroborates
its findings with global records dating back to 1850, emphasizing the urgency
of addressing the escalating climate crisis.
