Record-high greenhouse gas levels pushed global temperatures to an all-time high in 2024, accelerating glacier and sea ice loss, raising sea levels, and bringing the world closer to a critical warming threshold, according to the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
The WMO’s annual climate report revealed that the global average temperature was 1.55°C above pre-industrial levels, surpassing the previous record set in 2023 by 0.1°C. While the 2015 Paris Agreement aims to limit warming to within 1.5°C, preliminary estimates suggest the long-term average increase now stands between 1.34°C and 1.41°C.
WMO scientific coordinator John Kennedy clarified that a single year exceeding 1.5°C does not mean the Paris Agreement threshold has been breached. However, uncertainties in the data mean the possibility cannot be ruled out.
Beyond greenhouse gases, other factors such as changes in the solar cycle, a major volcanic eruption, and a decline in cooling aerosols may have contributed to last year’s temperature rise.
Extreme weather events intensified, with droughts leading to food shortages and floods and wildfires displacing 800,000 people—the highest figure since records began in 2008. Ocean heat also reached record levels, driving further acidification.
Glaciers and sea ice continued to shrink rapidly, causing sea levels to rise at an accelerated rate. Between 2015 and 2024, sea levels increased by an average of 4.7mm per year—more than double the 2.1mm annual rise recorded from 1993 to 2002.
Kennedy warned that melting ice in the Arctic and Antarctic could disrupt global ocean circulation, impacting climate systems worldwide. “What happens in the poles doesn’t necessarily stay at the poles,” he cautioned.
