The year 2024, according to the data, is almost certain to become the hottest on record. It will also be the first time the average temperature exceeds the pre-industrial level by more than 1.5°C, indicating a further escalation of the climate crisis. This is reported by The Guardian, reports UNN.
Data for November, obtained by the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), showed that the average global surface temperature this month was 1.62°C higher than the level that existed before the mass burning of fossil fuels led to global warming. Given that data is now available for 11 months of 2024, scientists have stated that the average temperature for the year is expected to be 1.60°C, exceeding the record set in 2023 - 1.48°C.
Samantha Burgess, deputy director of C3S, said: "We can now say with full confidence that 2024 will be the hottest year on record and the first calendar year with a temperature above 1.5°C. This does not mean that the Paris Agreement has been violated, but it does mean that ambitious climate action is more urgent than ever."
The Paris climate agreement obliges the 196 countries that signed it to keep global warming below 1.5°C in order to limit the consequences of climate disasters. But this indicator is measured over a decade or two, not a single year.
However, the likelihood of even staying below 1.5°C in the long term appears increasingly remote, writes The Guardian. CO2 emissions are expected to continue to rise in 2024, despite the global commitment to "phase out fossil fuels" adopted at the end of 2023.
It is noted that fossil fuel emissions need to be reduced by 45% by 2030 in order to have a chance of limiting warming to 1.5°C. At the recent COP29 climate summit, no agreement was reached on how to advance the transition from coal, oil and gas.
The intensification of extreme weather conditions caused by the climate crisis is already evident, notes The Guardian. Heatwaves of previously impossible intensity and frequency, as well as fierce storms and the strongest floods, are now being observed around the world.
Particularly severe wildfires broke out in North and South America in 2024, the EU's Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (Cams) reported last week. Fires caused by severe drought have affected the western United States, Canada, and the Amazon forests.
According to the research institute of the insurance company Swiss Re, the economic damage from extreme weather conditions is growing. The expected economic loss in 2024 increased by 6% and amounted to $320 billion, which is 25% higher than the average for the previous 10 years.
"Losses are most likely to continue growing as climate change intensifies extreme weather events, and the value of assets in high-risk areas increases due to urban sprawl. Therefore, adaptation is a key factor, and protective measures such as dikes, dams and locks are 10 times more economical than recovery," said Swiss Re.