WMO confirms record temperatures in a decade

Madrid. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed that 2024 is the warmest year on record, completing a streak extraordinary of 10 consecutive years with record temperatures.

According to the WMO consolidated analysis of six data sets, the global mean surface temperature was 1.55 °C with an uncertainty margin of +/- 0.13 °C above the 1850-1900 average. This means we have probably just experienced the first calendar year with a global average temperature more than 15°C above the 1850-1900 average.

Climate catastrophe

“The fact that some years exceed the 1.5 degree limit does not mean that the long-term goal is lost. We have to fight even harder to get back on track. Scorching temperatures in 2024 demand pioneering climate action in 2025The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, said in a statement. There is still time to avoid the worst of the climate catastrophe, but leaders must act nowhe stated.

The WMO provides a temperature assessment based on multiple data sources to support international climate monitoring and provide authoritative information for the UN climate change negotiation process.

The climate story is unfolding before our eyes. We haven’t just had one or two record years, but an entire series of 10 years. This has been accompanied by extreme and devastating weather events, rising sea levels and melting ice, all driven by record levels of greenhouse gases due to human activities.highlighted the Secretary General of the WMO, Celeste Saulo.

Importantly, a single 1.5°C+ year does not mean we have failed to meet the Paris Agreement’s long-term temperature goals, which are measured over decades rather than a single year. However, it is essential to recognize that every fraction of a degree of warming matters. Whether below or above 1.5 degrees of warming, each additional increase increases the impacts on our lives, economies and our planet.said Celeste Saulo.

According to the WMO, there is a margin of uncertainty in all temperature assessments. All six data sets place 2024 as the warmest year on record and all highlight the recent rate of warming. But not all of them show the temperature anomaly above 1.5 °C due to different methodologies.

The timing of the release of the six temperature data sets was coordinated between the institutions to highlight the exceptional conditions that will be experienced during 2024.