The United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced on Monday that climate change has driven extreme weather events and record-breaking temperatures this year, and that 2024 is projected to be the warmest on record.
Unprecedented levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have contributed significantly to global warming, according to the organization.
WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo highlighted the visible and growing impact of climate change. “Climate change is unfolding before our eyes on an almost daily basis, with the frequency and impact of extreme weather events increasing,” she said.
Saulo noted that there had been record rainfall, devastating floods, and tragic losses of human lives in several countries in 2024, including the floods that struck Spain and Morocco.
The WMO also cited the severe human and economic toll caused by tropical cyclones, such as the recent devastation in Mayotte, a French territory in the Indian Ocean.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres addressed the global community, underscoring the unprecedented high temperatures experienced over the past decade.
“Today I can officially report that we have just endured a decade of deadly heat. The top ten hottest years on record have happened in the last ten years, including 2024,” Guterres said in his New Year’s message.
He described the situation as “climate breakdown in real time,” urging countries to take immediate action to reduce emissions and transition to renewable energy by 2025.
The WMO said it plans to release its consolidated global temperature data for 2024 in January, followed by a comprehensive State of the Global Climate 2024 report in March 2025.
“Every fraction of a degree of warming matters,” Saulo said. Even slight temperature increases exacerbate climate extremes and associated risks, she added.