This year is set to become the hottest on record, with global temperatures breaching critical thresholds, according to Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).
In its monthly bulletin released Monday, the climate monitor confirmed that record-breaking heat from January to November has made 2024 “effectively certain” to surpass 2023 as the hottest year yet, which underscores a year marked by catastrophic climate disasters linked to human-induced global warming.
Provisional data shows the year’s average temperature is nearly 1.6°C above pre-industrial levels (1850-1900).
“This is the first calendar year 1.5°C hotter than the pre-industrial era,” Copernicus stated, noting this milestone does not breach the Paris Agreement’s target but intensifies the call for urgent climate action.
The Paris Agreement aims to limit global warming to 1.5°C over decades, but current trajectories, per the UN, point to a catastrophic 3.1°C rise by the century’s end.
READ: Kinnow exports decline amid climate change impact in Pakistan
Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus, emphasized that surpassing 1.5°C in a single year highlights the immediate need for ambitious measures to combat climate change.
The year 2024 has witnessed deadly flooding in Spain and Kenya, violent storms in the U.S. and the Philippines, and severe droughts and wildfires in South America.
These disasters contributed to a staggering $310 billion in economic losses globally, according to Swiss Re, a Zurich-based insurance giant.
Despite global pledges to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, emissions continue to rise, fueling extreme weather and destabilizing ecosystems.
Scientists warn that this warming trend, driven by the burning of coal, oil, and gas, disrupts climate patterns and exacerbates disasters.
Developing nations remain particularly vulnerable, requiring $1.3 trillion annually by 2035 for energy transitions and climate adaptation. At November’s UN climate talks, wealthier nations committed to raising $300 billion annually by 2035—a sum experts deem insufficient for addressing the crisis.
Source: Dawn
