That's for sure. The worst-case scenario has come true

On Friday, scientists from the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service presented the results of research conducted in 2024. Experts measured key climate indicators and documented the past year's daily, monthly and annual temperature records. According to them, the main factor contributing to extreme air and sea surface temperatures is climate change caused by human activity. However, other factors, such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), also contributed to the high temperatures observed during the year.

The C3S report shows that 2024 was the warmest year on record. The average global temperature was 15.1 degrees C and was 0.72 degrees C higher than the average from 1991-2020.

– All internationally compiled global temperature data sets show that 2024 was the hottest year since records began in 1850. Humanity is in control of its destiny and our responses to climate challenges should be evidence-based. The future is in our hands, quick and decisive actions can still change the trajectory of climate phenomena – said Carlo Buontempo, Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Moreover, the global average temperature in 2024 was 0.12 degrees Celsius higher than average in 2023 (previous warmest year on record).

According to experts, 2024 is the first calendar year in which the average global temperature exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above the level in pre-industrial times.

The report shows that each of the last 10 years (2015-2024) was one of the 10 warmest years on record.

According to researchers, the average monthly global temperature exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for 11 months of the year. Going back further, all months since July 2023, except July 2024, have exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Last year also saw a new record for global average daily temperature. The record was set on July 22, 2024 and amounted to 17.16 degrees Celsius.

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The first half of 2024 was particularly warm, with each month seeing higher global temperatures than in previous years. This contributed to a 13-month streak of record monthly temperatures that ended in June. Since July, global temperature anomalies have remained significantly above average. August 2024 was as warm as August 2023, and the remaining months – from July to December – took second place in terms of the highest temperatures, right after 2023. “The persistently high average global monthly temperatures in the first half of 2024 have indicated since late summer that it will likely surpass 2023 as the warmest year on record. Moreover, 2024 was the first year in which the annual temperature anomaly exceeded the threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level. The average for 2023-2024 also exceeded this level limit set in the Paris Agreement (it refers to temperature anomalies averaged over at least 20 years), this confirms the fact that global temperatures are rising beyond levels ever experienced by modern humanity,” scientists wrote in a release sent to the media.

2024 was the warmest year on record in Europe. The average temperature for this continent was 10.69 degrees C, which was 1.47 degrees C higher than the average for the period 1991-2020.

Spring and summer turned out to be the warmest months on record in Europe. The average temperature in the period March-May was 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than the seasonal average from 1991-2020. However, the average temperature from June to August was 1.54 degrees Celsius higher than the seasonal average from 1991–2020.