Earth Experienced Hottest Year On Record In 2024, Scientists Blame Burning Of Fossil Fuels

According to weather monitoring agencies, the Earth has its hottest year on record in 2024.

The increase surpassed the goal set by scientists to limit the increase below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

Scientists say if Earth stays above the threshold long-term, it will result in increased deaths, destruction, species loss and rising sea levels from the extreme weather accompanying warming.

Last year’s global average temperature exceeded 2023’s record high and increased. The European Commission’s Copernicus Climate Service reported that it went beyond the long-term warming limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius since the late 1800s, which was called for by the 2015 Paris climate pact.

Two U.S. government agencies, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA, had Earth slightly below that 1.5 mark.

According to NOAA, the global temperature last year exceeded the pre-industrial (1850–1900) average by 1.46 degrees Celsius (2.63 degrees Fahrenheit).

NASA said that 2024’s global temperature was 1.28 degrees Celsius (2.30 degrees Fahrenheit) above the agency’s 20th-century baseline (1951-1980), tops the record set in the previous year.

The Copernicus team found that the global temperature increased by 1.6 degrees Celsius (33.48 degrees Fahrenheit).

Samantha Burgess, strategic climate lead at Copernicus, said that “the primary reason for these record temperatures is the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere” from the burning of coal, oil and gas.

“As greenhouse gases continue to accumulate in the atmosphere, temperatures continue to increase, including in the ocean, sea levels continue to rise, and glaciers and ice sheets continue to melt,” Burgess added.

She also said that 2024 was not only the hottest year in recordkeeping that goes back to 1850, but likely the hottest for the planet in 125,000 years.

“There’s nothing to indicate that it won’t continue,” NOAA monitoring chief Russ Vose stated. “When there’s more heat in the system that has a cascading effect on other parts of the system. Sea level goes up. Warmer air can hold more moisture which tends to equate to more extreme storms. There’s a lot of impacts that go along with a warmer world.”

Several scientists mentioned that the biggest contributor to record warming, by far, is the burning of fossil fuels.

NASA climate scientist Gavin Schmidt said the El Nino that started in 2024 might have added a tenth of a degree Celsius to this year’s figures.

Scientists note that with a cooling La Nina instead of last year’s El Nino, 2025 may not be as hot as 2024. Several predict that it will be the third-warmest year.

However, the first six days of this month – despite cold temperatures in the Eastern U.S. – averaged slightly warmer and are the hottest start to a year yet, Copernicus data reports.

Scientists are still in disagreement regarding whether or not global warming is accelerating.

Carlo Buontempo, Copernicus’ director, stated that there is insufficient data to see an acceleration in atmospheric warming.

Despite this, the heat content of the oceans appears to be rising at a faster rate.

The day of July 21, 2024, marked the planet’s hottest day ever, and many parts of the Mediterranean were at risk of wildfires as a result. Scientists and activists sounded the alarm about the accelerating pace of climate change.

Regions in southern Europe were specifically endangered, as temperatures in Greece exceeded 40 degrees Celsius during July 2024. On July 23, 2024, temperatures exceeded 39 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country.

Spain also faced the risk of fires during the same week, as it was set to approach 43 degrees Celsius in Seville and Cordoba on July 31, 2024.

A World Weather Attribution analysis conducted in early August 2024 disclosed that fossil fuel emissions made the Mediterranean between 2.5 degrees Celsius and 3.3 degrees Celsius hotter.

This forced the athletes in last year’s Paris Olympics to perform in 35 degrees Celsius weather.