Planet at the Boiling Point: Unprecedented Climate Extremes Mark 2024

In 2024, global temperatures hit record highs, crossing the crucial 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold above pre-industrial levels. This unprecedented heat sparked extreme weather events worldwide, underscoring the urgent need for climate action. Natural and human-induced factors contributed, with El Niño amplifying the warming impact.

In an alarming development, 2024 witnessed global temperatures surpassing the critical 1.5 degrees Celsius mark for the first time, according to a new report by the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service. The data highlights record heat across multiple continents, excluding Australasia and Antarctica, during the year.

The report outlines how this surging heat has driven severe weather events worldwide, including devastating floods in Pakistan and Afghanistan, all-time low water levels in the Amazon river, and exceptional heatwaves in Europe. Policymakers are reminded of the pressing need to cut greenhouse gas emissions drastically.

Natural fluctuations like a strong El Niño have intensified these climatic shifts, although such patterns can sometimes counteract warming. As the globe continues to reel from increasingly extreme climatic conditions, experts emphasize that every fraction of a degree in global warming is critical for human and ecological survival.

(With inputs from agencies.)