Year 2024 was the warmest year in global temperature records going back to 1850. According to ERA5 (1), the global average temperature of 15.10°C was 0.72°C above the 1991-2020 average, and 0.12°C above 2023, the previous warmest year on record. This is equivalent to 1.60°C above an estimate of the 1850-1900 temperature designated to be the pre-industrial level.

2024 is the first calendar year that has reached more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial level. Each of the past 10 years (2015–2024) was one of the 10 warmest years on record.

The monthly global average temperature exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for 11 months of the year. Going back further, all months since July 2023, except for July 2024, have exceeded the 1.5°C level.

A new record high for daily global average temperature was reached on 22 July 2024, at 17.16°C. 2024 was the warmest year for all continental regions, except Antarctica and Australasia (2), as well as for sizeable parts of the ocean, particularly the North Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and the western Pacific Ocean.

2024 saw three record-warm seasons for the corresponding time of the year: boreal winter (December 2023-February 2024), boreal spring (March-May) and boreal summer (June-August) at 0.78°C, 0.68°C and 0.69°C respectively above the 1991-2020 average.

Each month from January to June 2024 was warmer than the corresponding month in any previous year on record. Each month from July to December, except August, was each the second warmest, after 2023, for the time of year. August 2024 was tied with August 2023 as the warmest on record.

Carlo Buontempo, Director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service comments: “All of the internationally produced global temperature datasets show that 2024 was the hottest year since records began in 1850. Humanity is in charge of its own destiny but how we respond to the climate challenge should be based on evidence. The future is in our hands – swift and decisive action can still alter the trajectory of our future climate.”

Samantha Burgess, Strategic Lead for Climate, ECMWF comments: “Each year in the last decade is one of the ten warmest on record. We are now teetering on the edge of passing the 1.5ºC level defined in the Paris Agreement and the average of the last two years is already above this level. These high global temperatures, coupled with record global atmospheric water vapour levels in 2024, meant unprecedented heatwaves and heavy rainfall events, causing misery for millions of people.”

C3S is implemented on behalf of the European Commission by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), whose scientists have been monitoring key climate indicators, and documenting unprecedented daily, monthly, and annual temperature records over 2024. Human-induced climate change remains the primary driver of extreme air and sea surface temperatures; while other factors, such as the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), also contributed to the unusual temperatures observed during the year.

This year the following organisations involved in global climate monitoring – ECMWF, NASA, NOAA, the UK Met Office, Berkeley Earth and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), have made a concerted effort to coordinate the release of their data, highlighting the exceptional conditions experienced during 2024.