According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the year 2024 is set to become the hottest year on record, marking a decade of unprecedented global temperatures driven by human activities. Greenhouse gas emissions have reached record levels, ensuring continued warming in the years ahead.
Extreme weather events have dominated the year, with record-breaking rainfall, flooding, and devastating tropical cyclones causing significant loss of life and economic damage worldwide. Scorching heatwaves pushed temperatures beyond 50°C in numerous countries, while wildfires left a trail of destruction. These events highlight the immediate and tangible impacts of climate change, which continue to grow in frequency and intensity.
A recent report, When Risks Become Reality: Extreme Weather in 2024, reveals that climate change intensified 26 of 29 major weather events, resulting in over 3,700 deaths and displacing millions. It also highlights the addition of 41 days of dangerous heat in 2024, posing severe threats to human health and ecosystems.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres highlighted in his New Year message that the world has just endured a decade of extreme heat, with the top ten hottest years on record occurring in the last ten years, including 2024. He described this as a climate breakdown unfolding in real time and emphasized the urgent need to change course. He called for countries to take immediate action in 2025 to put the world on a safer path by dramatically reducing emissions and supporting the transition to a renewable future.
The cryosphere, Earth's frozen regions, will take center stage in 2025 as part of the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation. This initiative aims to spotlight the alarming rate of ice loss and its profound implications for global ecosystems and sea-level rise.
WMO has emphasized the critical importance of initiatives like "Early Warnings for All," aimed at improving climate adaptation and resilience. Additionally, the organization is advancing the Global Greenhouse Gas Watch initiative to strengthen efforts in mitigating climate change. These programs are part of a broader strategy to support international frameworks like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Conference of the Parties (COP).
The WMO is set to release the consolidated global temperature figure for 2024 in January, followed by the full State of the Global Climate 2024 report in March 2025.
