Earth records hottest year ever in 2024, crosses critical climate threshold

Earth experienced its hottest year on record in 2024, surpassing a major climate threshold, according to weather monitoring agencies.

The report comes amid deadly wildfires in California, near Las Vegas, the home of Hollywood.

“This is a warning light flashing on Earth’s dashboard, signaling the need for immediate attention,” said Marshall Shepherd, a meteorology professor at the University of Georgia.

He added, “Hurricane Helene, floods in Spain, and the extreme weather fueling wildfires in California are all symptoms of this alarming climate shift. We still have a long way to go."

Last year’s global average temperature surpassed the record heat of 2023, exceeding the 1.5°C (2.7°F) warming limit set by the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

According to the European Commission's Copernicus Climate Service, the UK’s Meteorology Office, and Japan’s weather agency, the temperature increase was calculated at 1.6°C (2.89°F) by Europe, 1.57°C (2.83°F) by Japan, and 1.53°C (2.75°F) by the UK.

According to the EU agency, global temperatures are rising “beyond what modern humans have ever experienced.”

The Copernicus Climate Change Service said that the world is dangerously close to the globally agreed-upon 1.5°C warming threshold, though this does not mean it has been permanently exceeded.

Deadly wildfires in Los Angeles have destroyed hundreds of buildings and displaced thousands of people.

The blazes were described by US President Joe Biden as the most "devastating" to ever hit California, and he emphasized that they are signs that “climate change is real.”

According to Copernicus, average temperatures in 2023 and 2024 will be more than 1.5°C higher than pre-industrial levels due to extreme warming.

In 2015, around 200 nations agreed in Paris that reducing global warming to 1.5°C was vital to prevent the most severe consequences of climate change.

However, the globe is far from achieving this aim.

"We are now teetering on the edge of surpassing the 1.5°C threshold," said Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus Climate.