2024 was the hottest year on record. And the heat is not going to recede
10 January 2025 17:14
Last year, climate change caused the annual global temperature to exceed the internationally agreed target of 1.5°C for the first time, intensifying extreme weather and causing “suffering to millions of people.” The Guardian writes about this, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
According to data from the European climate change service Copernicus, the average temperature in 2024 was 1.6C higher than pre-industrial levels.
It is this jump of 0.1°C compared to 2023, which was also a record-breaking hot year, that represents a level of heat that modern humans have never experienced before.
The Copernicus climate change service, in particular, recorded that on July 10, 2024, a record 44% of the planet suffered from severe, up to extreme levels of heat stress, and July 22 was the hottest day in history.
“These high global temperatures, combined with record global levels of water vapor in the atmosphere in 2024, meant unprecedented heat and heavy rainfall, causing suffering for millions of people,” says Copernicus Deputy Director Dr. Samantha Burgess.
She believes that there is an extremely high probability that the long-term average temperature target of 1.5°C set by the Paris Agreement will be exceeded.
According to Dr. Friederike Otto of Imperial College London, the year of extreme weather has shown how dangerous life is at 1.5C. Floods in Valencia, hurricanes in the United States, typhoons in the Philippines and drought in the Amazon are just four of the disasters of the past year that have been exacerbated by climate change.”
Scientists remind us that global warming is mainly caused by the burning of fossil fuels, and the damage to lives and livelihoods will continue to grow worldwide until coal, oil and gas are replaced by fuels that are safe for the planet.
