2024 was the first year above 1.5C of global warming, scientists say

The world has just experienced its first full year with global temperatures exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, scientists confirmed on Friday. The milestone, reported by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), underscores how climate change is driving temperatures to unprecedented levels.

“The trajectory is just incredible,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of C3S, highlighting that every month in 2024 was either the warmest or second-warmest for that respective month since records began. According to C3S, the planet’s average temperature for the year was 1.6°C higher than during the pre-industrial period (1850–1900), a time before widespread fossil fuel use.

This confirmation cements 2024 as the hottest year since records began. Notably, each of the past ten years ranks among the ten warmest ever recorded. The UK’s Met Office corroborated this finding, estimating the average global temperature in 2024 at 1.53°C above pre-industrial levels. U.S. scientists are also expected to release their climate data shortly.

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, governments pledged to limit global temperature increases to below 1.5°C to avoid catastrophic climate disasters. However, while breaching this threshold for a single year does not yet violate the Paris target—which measures long-term averages—the trend is alarming. Rising greenhouse gas emissions suggest the world is on track to exceed the 1.5°C threshold permanently in the near future.

"It's not a done deal. We have the power to change the trajectory from now on," Buontempo emphasized, urging countries to take urgent action to cut emissions. Without intervention, temperatures will continue rising to dangerous levels.

Global Climate Impacts in 2024
The devastating effects of climate change were evident across continents in 2024. In the U.S., wildfires in California claimed at least five lives and destroyed hundreds of homes. Elsewhere, Bolivia and Venezuela faced massive wildfires, while torrential floods caused havoc in Nepal, Sudan, and Spain. Heatwaves in Mexico and Saudi Arabia led to the deaths of thousands.

Experts attribute worsening storms and torrential rain to a hotter atmosphere, which can hold more water vapor. Indeed, the amount of water vapor in the planet’s atmosphere reached a record high in 2024.

Despite the spiraling costs of such disasters, political will to curb emissions has waned in some nations. In the U.S., President-elect Donald Trump has called climate change a hoax, contradicting the global scientific consensus that urgent action is needed to mitigate its severe consequences. In 2024 alone, the U.S. experienced 24 climate-related disasters costing over $1 billion each, including Hurricanes Milton and Helene, according to NOAA.

A Call to Action
Chukwumerije Okereke, a professor of global climate governance at the University of Bristol, described the 1.5°C milestone as a "rude awakening" for policymakers. "Despite all the warnings that scientists have given, nations… are continuing to fail to live up to their responsibilities," he said.

Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide—the primary driver of global warming—reached a record 422 parts per million in 2024, C3S reported. Zeke Hausfather, a research scientist at Berkeley Earth, predicted that 2025 will remain among the hottest years on record, though it may not surpass 2024. While human-caused emissions remain the primary factor, early 2024 temperatures were exacerbated by El Niño, a warming weather pattern now transitioning toward its cooler counterpart, La Niña.

The 1.5°C milestone is a stark reminder of the urgent need for global action to address climate change. While challenges abound, scientists and policymakers emphasize that it is not too late to alter the planet’s trajectory and prevent further catastrophic warming.