2024 Set to Become Hottest Year on Record Amid Urgent Warnings from WMO

The report details alarming trends, including accelerated sea-level rise, glacier loss, and ocean warming, alongside extreme weather that has devastated communities worldwide.

As 2024 heads toward becoming the hottest year ever recorded, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has released a critical report highlighting the dangerous pace of climate change, fueled by greenhouse gas emissions and amplified by El Niño effects. According to the State of the Climate 2024 Update, the period from 2015 to 2024 will go down as the warmest decade in recorded history. The report details alarming trends, including accelerated sea-level rise, glacier loss, and ocean warming, alongside extreme weather that has devastated communities worldwide.

The analysis of six major global climate datasets reveals a January–September global mean surface air temperature of 1.54°C above pre-industrial levels (±0.13°C margin of uncertainty). This record-breaking warmth coincides with COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, where world leaders and climate experts gather to address critical climate challenges and the urgent need for enhanced adaptation efforts.

Global Warming Threatens Paris Agreement Goals

UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a stark warning, stating, “Climate catastrophe is hammering health, widening inequalities, harming sustainable development, and rocking the foundations of peace. The vulnerable are hardest hit.” The report warns that the temperature records don’t signify a failure to achieve the long-term 1.5°C goal of the Paris Agreement, but they do underscore how close the world is to surpassing safe thresholds. WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo clarified, “This does NOT mean we have failed the Paris Agreement... but every fraction of a degree of warming matters. Each increment increases the risks and impacts of climate change.”

A Year of Record-Setting Extremes

In 2024, record-breaking weather events—ranging from torrential rains and catastrophic floods to scorching heat, intensified tropical cyclones, relentless drought, and raging wildfires—have become tragically routine. These events underline the report’s emphasis on climate resilience, with calls for global leaders to scale up adaptation measures through enhanced early warning systems, climate information services, and support for communities in crisis.

Accelerating Emissions Cuts and Support for Adaptation

Highlighting the need for immediate emissions cuts and climate resilience investment, Saulo urged: “We urgently need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen our monitoring and understanding of our changing climate.” The WMO emphasized that investments in adaptation efforts, such as the Early Warnings for All initiative, are vital to protecting lives and stabilizing communities in vulnerable regions.