Climate scientist at the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service have declared that 2024 is “virtually certain” to become the hottest year on record.
Based on its ERA5 dataset, the agency stated that 2024 is expected to be over 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and it will likely be more than 1.55 C above.
Samantha Burgees, the deputy director of Copernicus Climate Change Service, said in a statement, "This marks a new milestone in global temperature records and should serve as a catalyst to raise ambition for the upcoming Climate Change Conference, COP29."
The Agency further reported that from January to October 2024, global temperatures were 0.71 C above 1991-2020 average, the highest on record for this period and 0.16 C warmer than same period in 2023.
In concerning development, the authority also revealed that Arctic sea ice has reached to its fourth lowest extent for October at 19% below average.
Notably, Copernicus found European temperatures were above average across nearly the entire continent, with the largest anomalies in northern Canada, the central and western United States, northern Tibet, Japan and Australia.
The United Nations warned that world is now in “climate church time” as greenhouse gases have hit “unprecedented levels.”
