UN Warns 2024 Set to Be Hottest Year on Record, Urges Urgent Action on Climate Change

The United Nations issued a stark warning on Monday, stating that 2024 is on track to become the hottest year ever recorded, capping a decade of unprecedented global heat. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) highlighted a surge in greenhouse gas emissions to record highs, locking in more heat for the future.

WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo noted that climate change is becoming increasingly visible through extreme weather events, including record-breaking rainfall, devastating flooding, and catastrophic heatwaves. “This year we saw terrible loss of life in many countries,” Saulo said, emphasizing the widespread impact of tropical cyclones, such as those in Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, and intense heat that soared above 50°C (122°F) in several regions. Wildfires have also caused widespread devastation, further underscoring the severity of the crisis.

The 2015 Paris climate agreement set a target to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, with an aspiration to cap it at 1.5°C. The WMO reported that the mean surface air temperature from January to September was 1.54°C higher than the pre-industrial average, positioning 2024 to surpass 2023’s record of 1.45°C above historical levels.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres remarked in his New Year message that the past decade has been marked by “deadly heat,” with the 10 hottest years on record occurring in the last decade. He called for urgent action to avoid further climate breakdown, stressing that “we must exit this road to ruin” and take immediate steps to slash emissions and transition to renewable energy.

The WMO will release its full State of the Global Climate 2024 report in March, but the message is clear: the world must act now to combat the climate crisis and secure a safer, sustainable future.