NEW DELHI: The year 2024 is on track to be the warmest year on record, with the global average near surface temperature even higher than in 2023, World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said on Thursday.
It means it will be the first year of more than 1.5 degrees celsius – the Paris Agreement threshold – warming above pre-industrial levels (1850-1900). As of now, 2023 was the warmest year on record with the global average near-surface temperature at 1.45 degree celsius above the pre-industrial baseline.
WMO’s global temperature analysis covers January to September 2024 and is based on six international datasets to provide a consolidated temperature assessment. It provided the information to UN secretary-general António Guterres ahead of the 29th session of the UN climate change conference ( COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Though the WMO warned that the world is getting closer to the goals set in the Paris Agreement on climate change, the threshold of limiting temperature rise within 1.5 degree celsius this century actually refers to long-term temperature increase over decades, not over one to five years.
WMO uses multiple datasets, including from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and its Copernicus Climate Change Service, and the Japan Meteorological Agency, to arrive at its preliminary findings.