A Series of World Record-Breaking Temperatures Surprising the 2023 position as the hottest year on record, global temperatures recorded in 2024 have positioned the climatic situation at an all-time high. The statistics are based on data produced by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, C3S. The report was produced ahead of the COP29 climate summit, which has been set for Azerbaijan. According to scientists, these extraordinary temperatures in 2024 are due to global warming, with the principal source of carbon emissions coming from fossil fuels. The summit meeting may therefore focus on increasing financial investments meant to control rising temperatures and restore the environment on earth.
Body: This is because the heat experienced globally has been so extreme between January and the last month of October that without a drastic drop during the remaining months of the year, 2024 might surpass this record for global heat ever experienced. Predictions for this year indicate that the Earth’s average temperature will, for the first time, exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels (1850–1900). That was the critical limit outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement, whereby countries agreed to restrain from raising the average global temperature by more than 1.5°C to avoid the most cataclysmic climate impacts. However, scientists warn that at the current rate of warming, such a threshold could be exceeded consistently by 2030.
Climate change is already happening globally. Flash floods destroyed Spain alone in October, while wildfires were out of control in Peru, destroying over a million tons of rice and precipitating food price hikes in Bangladesh. Not far behind in the United States, Hurricane Milton was compounded by human-induced climate warming to its extreme intensity.
One major barrier to transition—from the slow pace at which progress has been achieved—is that the world continues on a course that will probably overshoot the Paris Agreement within the next decade. C3S temperature records started in 1940 and have been cross-checked with global data going back to 1850, emphasizing the fact that the trend in warming is both recent and consistent. Climate change is gaining speed, raising alarms in both human and natural systems, so it’s high time that clear action is taken at COP29.
Conclusion: The COP29 summit is going to be that moment when countries will strengthen their commitments, including increasing their financial contributions, to solve climate change. No doubt remains about the urgency of climate action anymore; with this regard, many now expect stronger policies and adaptation strategies on a much faster timeline. Even small fractions of degrees more in global temperature mean more and more severe weather events, which drive the urgency for action. The countries meeting in Azerbaijan have an essential opportunity to discuss these challenges and take much-needed action toward curbing the future impacts of climate change.
Source: Reuters