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Last year was 1.6 degrees hotter than the period before humans began burning large amounts of fossil fuels, Copernicus found. It makes 2024 the first calendar year to breach the 1.5-degree limit countries agreed to avoid under the Paris climate agreement in 2015.
Scientists are much more concerned about breaches over decades, rather than single years — as above that threshold humans and ecosystems may struggle to adapt — but 2024’s record "does mean we're getting dangerously close," said Joeri Rogelj, a climate professor at Imperial College London.
Last year is part of a pattern of off-the-charts heat. Every single one of the world's 10 hottest years happened in the last decade, according to Copernicus data.
The extreme weather that swept the globe last year shows just how dangerous life in a warmer world already is. Back-to-back hurricanes in the US, fueled by ultra-warm ocean temperatures, killed hundreds of people. In Spain, more than 200 people died in catastrophic floods. Amazon rivers fell to unprecedented lows during the region's worst drought on record and the Philippines experienced an extraordinary typhoon season, with six in just 30 days. The climate crisis played a role in all of these extreme events, according to scientific analyses.
📸 : Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images
