The world has just witnessed the first full year in which average global temperatures exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, as confirmed by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). This significant milestone, reported on January 10, 2025, illustrates the relentless march of climate change, which is pushing temperatures to unprecedented levels not experienced by modern humans.

C3S director Carlo Buontempo stated, “The trajectory is just incredible,” noting that every month throughout 2024 recorded the warmest or second-warmest temperatures for that month since records began. The average global temperature for 2024 was reported at 1.6 degrees Celsius higher than during the pre-industrial period (1850-1900), marking 2024 as the hottest year ever documented. Notably, each of the last ten years has been among the ten warmest on record, emphasizing the alarming trend of global warming (SCMP, Reuters, Al Jazeera).

In line with these findings, the UK's Met Office has estimated a slightly lower target of 1.53 degrees Celsius for 2024. The ongoing climate crisis has led to a plea for urgent action; governments committed to the Paris Agreement in 2015 aimed to avert average temperatures from exceeding 1.5 degrees, intending to sidestep catastrophic climate impacts. However, the breach of this threshold raises critical concerns about future projections and climate stability.

Buontempo highlighted rising greenhouse gas emissions as a primary driver for these record temperatures and emphasized that it may not be too late for nations to cut emissions and alter the current trajectory. “It’s not a done deal. We have the power to change the trajectory from now on,” he stated.

The repercussions of climate change have become alarmingly visible across the globe. Extreme weather events in 2024 included devastating wildfires in California, which resulted in fatalities and the destruction of numerous homes. Additionally, Bolivia and Venezuela faced catastrophic fires, while torrential floods affected regions including Nepal, Sudan, and Spain, and heatwaves in Mexico and Saudi Arabia resulted in thousands of deaths.

Climate change continues to exacerbate storm intensity and heavy rainfall, with record-high water vapor levels contributing to increasingly severe weather conditions. Despite the escalating climate disaster costs, political momentum for investing in emission reductions has waned in several countries, including the United States, where President-elect Donald Trump has dismissed climate change concerns as a hoax.

Chukwumerije Okereke, a professor specializing in global climate governance, referenced the 1.5°C milestone as a needed wake-up call for political leaders. “Despite all the warnings that scientists have given, nations… are continuing to fail to live up to their responsibilities,” he asserted.

The data makes it clear that while the primary cause of climate change is human activity, particularly fossil fuel emissions, climate patterns such as El Niño also contributed to the extraordinary temperatures witnessed in early 2024. The year ahead is expected to remain among the hottest on record, serving as a reminder of the urgent need for collective action against climate change.