Thu Nov 07 04:02:00 UTC 2024: ## 2024 Confirmed as Hottest Year on Record, Global Temperature Exceeds 1.5°C Threshold
**Baku, Azerbaijan – November 7, 2024** – The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) has confirmed that 2024 will be the hottest year on record, surpassing even the scorching temperatures of 2023. The announcement comes ahead of the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan, where global leaders will attempt to agree on a significant increase in funding to combat climate change.
C3S data reveals that global average temperatures from January to October have been so high that 2024 is practically guaranteed to be the warmest year on record, even if the temperature anomaly in the remaining months plummets to near-zero.
“The fundamental, underpinning cause of this year’s record is climate change,” said Carlo Buontempo, Director of C3S. “The climate is warming, generally. It’s warming in all continents, in all ocean basins. So we are bound to see those records being broken.”
The data also reveals that 2024 marks the first year where the planet’s average temperature is exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the threshold scientists have warned about for decades.
“The limits that were set in the Paris Agreement are starting to crumble given the too-slow pace of climate action across the world,” said Sonia Seneviratne, a climate scientist at ETH Zurich.
The Paris Agreement, signed in 2015, aimed to keep global temperature rise well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, with a target of limiting the increase to 1.5°C. However, the current trend suggests the 1.5°C threshold will be breached by around 2030, according to C3S.
The consequences of rising temperatures are already evident around the world. October saw catastrophic flash floods in Spain, record wildfires in Peru, and devastating flooding in Bangladesh that destroyed millions of tons of rice, sending food prices soaring. Hurricane Milton in the U.S. was also exacerbated by climate change.
The news comes at a critical juncture for climate negotiations. With Donald Trump’s recent victory in the U.S. presidential election, the upcoming COP29 summit faces a significant hurdle in the fight against climate change.
Climate scientists are urging governments to take stronger action to phase out fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy sources. With the 1.5°C threshold seemingly around the corner, the world faces a stark choice: act decisively and swiftly, or face the increasingly dire consequences of a warming planet.
First Piper 