Global temperatures in 2023 and 2024 have surpassed a critical warming threshold, reaching levels “beyond what modern humans have ever experienced,” according to a report from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. Although this does not yet signal a permanent breach of the internationally agreed 1.5°C limit, the service warns that the world is alarmingly close to exceeding this crucial target.
Copernicus confirmed that 2024 was the hottest year on record, surpassing 2023 and continuing an unprecedented streak of extreme heat events worldwide. These rising temperatures have exacerbated climate-related disasters, with significant impacts across continents, from wildfires in the U.S. to devastating flooding in Europe and Africa.
While 2025 may not break additional records, the UK weather service predicts it will still rank among the top three warmest years on record. This sustained heat is fueling extreme weather, including devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, which U.S. President Joe Biden called the most “devastating” in California’s history, highlighting the undeniable reality of climate change.
The Copernicus data indicates that the average temperatures of 2023 and 2024 were more than 1.5°C hotter than pre-industrial levels, edging closer to the globally-agreed 1.5°C warming limit set by nearly 200 nations in the 2015 Paris Agreement. This milestone represents a critical point, as the world struggles to stay on track with the goal of limiting global warming to prevent catastrophic consequences.
Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director at Copernicus, emphasized that we are now “teetering on the edge” of passing the 1.5°C threshold, and every fraction of a degree increase could lead to irreversible climate shifts. Even at current levels, climate change is intensifying droughts, storms, floods, and heatwaves globally.
One of the key contributors to this record-breaking heat is the continued warming of the oceans, which absorb the majority of excess heat from greenhouse gases. In 2024, ocean temperatures reached new highs, further straining coral reefs, marine life, and contributing to more severe weather patterns like cyclones and torrential rainfall. Higher evaporation rates and increased moisture in the atmosphere have led to extreme rainfall and unbearable humidity, causing widespread damage and displacement.
Johan Rockström from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research called the 1.5°C threshold a “stark warning sign,” stressing the unprecedented economic and human suffering caused by this climate shift. While the El Niño phenomenon contributed to the record heat in 2023, scientists are still perplexed by the continued high temperatures into 2024, even after its conclusion.
Despite some signs of a potential La Niña event that could bring temporary cooling, experts argue that it will be too weak to counterbalance the long-term warming trend. The future of the climate is still in humanity’s hands, as swift and decisive action remains critical to altering the trajectory of global temperatures.
The 2023 UN summit marked a commitment to transitioning away from fossil fuels, but progress on reducing emissions remains slow. With a rapidly closing window for meaningful action, the world must confront the stark reality of the climate crisis and implement robust solutions to mitigate further warming and its catastrophic consequences.
