Unprecedented ocean heat, accelerated ice melt, and rising sea levels are key indicators of climate change that have reached alarming new records, as detailed in the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) 2024 State of the Global Climate report.
“We saw record temperatures across wide areas,” stated a WMO representative. The report cautions that reversing these drastic changes could take hundreds or even thousands of years.
The findings present a troubling compilation of records, highlighting that the rate of sea level rise has doubled since the advent of satellite measurements, escalating from 2.1 millimeters per year between 1993 and 2000 to 4.7 millimeters per year from 2015 to 2024.
Glacier melting has reached unprecedented levels, with the largest mass loss recorded occurring within the last three years. Significant ice loss was reported in Norway, particularly in Svalbard, as well as in Sweden and the tropical Andes.
The report also indicates that the last 18 years have marked the lowest extent of summer sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, while the past three years recorded the least sea ice around Antarctica.
“What happens in the poles doesn’t necessarily stay in the poles,” warns the representative, emphasizing that shifts in these regions can have global climate repercussions.
A new record for ocean heat, indicating increased heat accumulation on the planet, has been established each year for the past eight years, with the last decade witnessing the ten warmest years on record.
Additionally, the data suggests that 2024 could be the first year with an average global near-surface temperature exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, estimated at 1.55°C above the 1850 to 1900 average. This measurement, however, carries a degree of uncertainty, allowing for the possibility that it may not have surpassed the 1.5°C mark.
One year exceeding this temperature does not necessarily indicate a breach of the 1.5°C target outlined in the Paris Agreement, states the representative. Most climate scientists agree that this target relates to a longer-term average rather than a single yearly measurement.
Three methods are currently under consideration for defining when the Paris target has been exceeded, suggesting that the global climate could now be warmer than the 1850 to 1900 average by 1.34°C, 1.37°C, or 1.41°C. However, the margin of error in these calculations is significant enough that exceeding the 1.5°C target cannot be ruled out. “We can’t rule out 1.5 by these methods,” the representative concluded.
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