Last year was officially the hottest year in recorded history, multiple government agencies announced on Friday, marking the second consecutive year of record-breaking global temperatures.
NASA and NOAA scientists confirmed that 2024 surpassed 2023 as the warmest year since record-keeping began in 1880.
Global average land and ocean surface temperatures in 2024 were about 2.65°F (1.47°C) higher than the mid-19th century average, NOAA reported. This milestone extends a troubling trend, as the planet’s 10 hottest years have all occurred within the past decade.
North America, Europe, Africa, and South America experienced their hottest years on record, while Asia and the Arctic saw their second-warmest.
The relentless heat, fuelled by human-caused climate change and an El Niño event, drove extreme weather globally. For example, Phoenix endured 113 consecutive days of triple-digit temperatures, and deadly heat waves struck Mexico in May and June.
Gavin Schmidt, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, highlighted the reality of climate change, calling the warming pattern “exactly what climate models predicted.”
The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service noted that 2024 was the first full year where temperatures exceeded 1.5°C above preindustrial levels, breaching the Paris Agreement’s critical threshold.
While 2025 may cool slightly due to La Niña, scientists warn the long-term warming trend continues.
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