Last year, NASA announced that 2024 was the hottest year on record, making it the planet’s warmest year since at least 1880. This marks the second consecutive year of record-breaking global temperatures, with 2023 previously holding the title of the hottest year on record. These back-to-back milestones are indicative of a concerning trend of ongoing global warming that climate scientists have long warned about and that has been predicted by various climate models.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson emphasized the significance of the new record, stating, “Once again, the temperature record has been shattered — 2024 was the hottest year since record keeping began in 1880.” Nelson underscored the urgency of understanding the changing planet, particularly in the face of record-breaking temperatures and wildfires that are currently posing threats in California.
According to NASA’s analysis, Earth experienced temperatures approximately 2.65 degrees Fahrenheit (1.47 degrees Celsius) hotter in 2024 compared to the average temperatures recorded from 1850 to 1900. This new record comes as no surprise following a year characterized by extreme weather events. From June 2023 through August 2024, the planet witnessed 15 consecutive months of monthly temperature records, a phenomenon described by NASA scientists as an “unprecedented heat streak.”
The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service corroborated NASA’s findings by confirming the record-breaking temperatures of 2024. Their analysis revealed that global temperatures in 2024 exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, marking the first full year to surpass this threshold.
The record-setting temperatures of 2024 underscore the pressing need for action in addressing climate change. The Paris Agreement, a landmark accord reached in 2015, set a goal for countries to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. This target was established to mitigate the most severe consequences of climate change and underscores the importance of global cooperation in combating this urgent threat.
