2024 has officially become the hottest year ever in human history.

 

The average global temperature in 2024 was recorded as 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels, marking it the hottest year in human history. The significant increase was confirmed by the European climate agency Copernicus, which stated that the average temperature for 2024 was 1.6 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

 

In fact, 2024 may have been the hottest year in the last 100,000 years. Previously, 2023 held the record for the hottest year, with the global temperature being 1.48 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial times.

 

The primary reason for the rise in temperature is the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas, which has adversely affected lives and livelihoods across the globe. The 2015 Paris Agreement aimed to keep the global temperature increase below 1.5 degrees Celsius, but that goal has already been surpassed.

 

Data from the climate agency also highlights that on July 10, 2024,  44 percent of the Earth's surface experienced extreme heat. Additionally, July 22, 2024, was recorded as the hottest day in history.

 

Experts believe that carbon dioxide emissions reached record levels in 2024, indicating insufficient progress in finding alternatives to fossil fuels. The first half of the year saw a temperature rise partly due to the El Niño phenomenon, a climate pattern that warms a large part of the Pacific Ocean, raising global temperatures.

 

However, even after El Niño subsided, the second half of 2024 did not see a decrease in temperature intensity. Scientists suggest that an unexpected factor might have contributed, potentially accelerating future temperature rises.

 

The European agency pointed out that the climate crisis caused by extreme heat is now unmistakable, with the intensity and duration of heat waves reaching levels once thought impossible.

 

Experts warn that this is just the beginning, and future years may continue to set new heat records. 

 

By the end of this century, 2024 might be remembered as one of the cooler years.