warmest year

The warmest year on record

February 14, 2025 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

It came as no surprise that 2024 ended up as the warmest year on records. It was the hottest year since record keeping began in 1880. The global average temperature was 1.28 degrees Celsius (or 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit) above the 20th-century baseline period of 1951-1980. It was actually 1.47 degrees above the 1850-1900 average.

The Paris Climate Agreement has a goal to keep the global average temperature increase below 1.5 degrees Celsius over the long term. Long term is specified because for more than half of 2024, average temperatures were more than 1.5 degrees above the baseline.

The temperature of an individual year can be influenced by various natural climate fluctuations, such as the presence of an El Niño or a La Niña condition in the Pacific, or volcanic eruptions. A strong El Niño began in 2023 and continued throughout much of 2024. That El Niño has abated, so it is no longer a factor in the global climate condition.

The global temperature is determined using surface air temperature data collected from thousands of meteorological stations as well as sea surface temperature data collected by ships and buoy-based instruments.

When the climate changes, it is observed first in the global mean temperature. Then there are changes seen on a continental scale and then at the regional scale. Finally, changes are observable at the local level. These changes are becoming more and more common as people’s everyday weather experiences become different from any they had encountered before.

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2024 Was the Warmest Year on Record

Photo, posted August 26, 2015, courtesy of Saskia Madlener / NASA via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

October was another hot month

December 3, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In a year filled with unusually warm months, October 2024 ranked as the second-warmest October in the 175 years of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s records. It was just 0.09 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the previous global record set just last year.

In our part of the world, North America had its warmest October on record.

Year-to-date, the global surface temperature has been 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th century average, which is the warmest such period on record. This record warmth was observed in Africa, Europe, North America, Oceania, and South America. With only a little of the year to go, predictions are that there is a greater than 99% chance that 2024 will rank as the world’s warmest year on record.

Other aspects of the warming climate were also in full evidence in October. Global sea ice coverage was the smallest in the 46 years that it has been tracked, about 1.25 million square miles below the 1991-2020 average. Ice extent in the Arctic was the fourth lowest on record and ice extent in the Antarctic was the second lowest on record.

Global ocean surface temperature was the second warmest for October and is the warmest ever for the period January to October.

The Atlantic basin saw five tropical cyclones during October, including the deadly and destructive Hurricane Milton that made landfall just south of Tampa Bay.

The monthly climate postings by NOAA continue to report record-breaking temperatures and significant climate anomalies and events. This pattern is not likely to do anything but continue in the future.

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Planet saw its 2nd-warmest October in 175-year record

Photo, posted August 21, 2018, courtesy of Fabio Achilli via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The warmest fall

December 12, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has global climate records dating back 174 years. As the planet continues to heat up, both September and October set new records as the warmest of those months in history.

September was the fourth month in a row of record-warm global temperatures. Not only was it the warmest September on record, but it was also the most atypically warm month of any month of the entire 174 years of record keeping. In fact, September 2023 was warmer than the average July from 2001-2010.

For the sixth consecutive month, September also set a monthly record for global ocean surface temperature.

Not to be outdone, the planet added a fifth straight month of record-warm temperatures in October. The average global temperature for October was 1.34 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average. This was .24 degrees higher than the previous October record set in 2015. And, for the seventh straight month, global ocean surface temperatures were also at a record high.

October was the 47th consecutive October and the 536th consecutive month with global temperatures above the 20th century average. In fact, the past 10 Octobers have been the 10 warmest Octobers in the global climate record.

With only a short time remaining in the year, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information, there is a greater than 99% chance that 2023 will rank as the warmest year on record for the world. It is no cause for celebration.

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The planet just had its warmest October on record

Topping the charts: September 2023 was Earth’s warmest September in 174-year record

Photo, posted October 18, 2016, courtesy of Dave Roberts via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Europe Is Warming Very Quickly | Earth Wise

July 13, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

According to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization, Europe is warming faster than any other inhabited continent. The result of the rising temperatures has been increasingly severe heat waves, flood, and wildfires.

The Paris Climate Agreement has set a goal of limiting warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and, if at all possible, to no more than 1.5 degrees. To date, the planet has warmed by 1.2 degrees and, with greenhouse gas emissions continuing at record levels, the temperature keeps going up.

These numbers refer to the global average. Some places have warmed more and others less. The Arctic has been warming four times quicker than the rest of the world. In terms of direct impact on large populations, Europe has already surpassed the 2-degree mark, having reached 2.3 degrees last year. In 2022, many countries in western and southwestern Europe had their warmest year on record. Weather-related economic damages totaled $2 billion, mostly as a result of storms and floods.

Europe is trying to do its part in mitigating climate change by making major gains on clean energy. Wind and solar generated 22% of Europe’s power in 2022, which is more than either natural gas or coal produced. Europe is trying to do its share, but the warming climate is a global phenomenon and will require a global effort to mitigate its effects.

The record-breaking heat stress experienced by Europeans last year cannot be considered a one-off occurrence. It is part of a pattern that will make weather extremes more frequent and more intense over time.

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The Fastest-Warming Continent, Europe Has Already Heated by More Than 2 Degrees C

Photo, posted September 26, 2011, courtesy of Ben Ramirez via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

An Unwanted Temperature Threshold Is Approaching | Earth Wise

July 3, 2023 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

According to the World Meteorological Organization, there is a 66% chance over the next five years that the Earth’s global temperature will exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for at least one year.

A combination of the continued accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere along with a looming El Niño condition will contribute to surging temperatures. The WMO also reports that there is a 98% likelihood that at least one of the next five years will be the warmest on record and that the five-year period as a whole will be the warmest on record.

Reaching or surpassing the 1.5-degree threshold may only be temporary but would be the strongest indication yet of how quickly climate change is accelerating. The 1.5-degree point is considered by many scientists to be a key tipping point, beyond which the chances of extreme flooding, drought, wildfires, heatwaves, and food shortages could increase dramatically.

The world has already seen about 1.2 degrees of warming as we continue to burn fossil fuels and produce enormous quantities of greenhouse gas emissions. As recently as 2015, the WMO put the chance of breaching the 1.5-degree threshold as close to zero.

It is important to understand that the 1.5-degree temperature increase is an average for the entire planet. Many individual locations around the world have been experiencing tremendously greater amounts of warming with record-breaking temperatures.

The 1.5-degree threshold is important, but it is not itself a tipping point. There is still time to reduce global warming by moving away from fossil fuels and towards clean energy. But the clock is ticking and so far, the world is not showing any urgency.

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‘Sounding the alarm’: World on track to breach a critical warming threshold in the next five years

Photo, posted May 20, 2015, courtesy of Kevin Gill via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio