In 2024, the planet broke the record set in 2023 for the hottest year on record, NOAA, NASA, the European Copernicus Climate Change Service, Berkeley Earth, and the UKMET Office reported on January 10. There were 14 straight months of record-breaking global temperatures from June 2023 through July 2024, and the July global temperature value was likely the hottest of any month since 1850.
Human-caused climate change added an average of 41 days of dangerous heat globally in 2024, and it is likely the total number of people killed in extreme weather events intensified by climate change in 2024 is in the tens or hundreds of thousands, according to the World Weather Attribution group and Climate Central (see Bluesky post below).
According to Berkeley Earth, 24% of the Earth’s surface experienced a locally record-high annual average temperature in 2024. Local record annual averages impacted an estimated 3.3 billion people — 40% of the global population — with 104 countries setting new national records for their annual average, including China, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Brazil, Greece, Malaysia, and South Korea.
Global ocean temperatures and land temperatures in 2024 were both the hottest on record, said NOAA. The record heat in the oceans in 2024 brought on a global coral bleaching event, the fourth one in recorded history (1998, 2010, 2014-17, and now 2024).
Global satellite-measured temperatures in 2024 for the lowest eight kilometers of the atmosphere were by far the hottest in the 46-year satellite record, according to the University of Alabama, Huntsville. The previous record was set in 2023.
First year with temperatures above 1.5°C above pre-industrial in most datasets
The year 2024 was the first in which global average surface temperatures exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in the five leading datasets, with departures from average ranging between 1.46-1.62 degrees Celsius. (The differences in the datasets arise largely from using different baseline years for pre-industrial climate, such as 1850 versus 1880, and from slight differences in how researchers account for data-sparse areas such as the Arctic, especially prior to 1900.) While record heat in 2023 and 2024 was expected because of a strong El Niñ0 event that occurred in the Eastern Pacific, the full magnitude of the heat both years was higher than expected, for reasons that climate scientists are trying to understand.
Reaching 1.5 degrees Celsius in an individual year is not equivalent to a breach of the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit – which refers to long-term warming over a period of 30 years – but it nevertheless indicates that the world is quickly approaching this internationally agreed threshold.
No clear signs of a peak in global CO2 emissions yet
Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels and cement production rose by around 0.8% in 2024, reaching a record 37.4 billion tons of carbon dioxide, according to the 2024 Global Carbon Budget report by the Global Carbon Project, released November 12. The 0.8% annual increase is roughly on par with the 0.9% average annual increase during the 2010s and lower than the 1.4% growth in 2023. The concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere in 2024 was about 52% above pre-industrial levels.
Total carbon dioxide emissions, which include land-use change, were about 2% above the previous record set in 2023. This large increase was driven both by growth in fossil-fuel emissions and abnormally high land-use emissions in 2024 – in part, from wildfires in South America worsened by a strong El Niño event and record high temperatures.
The other two primary human-emitted heat-trapping gases —methane and nitrous oxide — also reached all-time highs in 2024.
Hottest year on record for total ocean heat content
The total heat content of the world’s oceans in 2024, in both the upper 700 meters and upper 2,000 meters, was the hottest in data going back to 1955. More than 90% of the increasing heat from human-caused global warming accumulates in the ocean as a result of its large heat capacity. The remaining heating manifests as atmospheric warming, a drying and warming landmass, and melting land and sea ice. Increasing ocean heat content causes sea level rise through thermal expansion of the water and melting of glaciers in contact with the ocean, resulting in higher coastal erosion and more damaging storm surges. Ocean heat content also produces stronger and more rapidly intensifying hurricanes, causes more intense precipitation events that can lead to destructive flooding, contributes to marine heat waves that damage or destroy coral reefs, and disrupts atmospheric circulation patterns.
2025 is unlikely to be the third consecutive hottest year on record
NOAA is giving a 4% chance that 2025 will surpass 2024 as the hottest year on record and a 96% chance that it will be a top-five hottest year. Climate scientist Gavin Schmidt predicts that because of the weak La Niña conditions now in place and expected to continue during the first part of the year, 2025 will be notably cooler than 2024, most likely ending up as the third-hottest year on record, behind 2024 and 2023 but ahead of 2016 (see Bluesky post below). The UK Met Office is making the same prediction.
Global number of named storms and major tropical cyclones was near average
A total of 85 named tropical cyclones occurred across the globe in 2024, which is near the 1980-2024 average, according to the Colorado State Real-Time Tropical Cyclone Activity page. Of those, 42 reached the equivalent of hurricane strength (winds of 74 mph or higher) during 2024, and 23 reached the equivalent of major hurricane strength (winds of 111 mph or higher). The number of hurricanes was below average, while the number of major hurricanes was near average. The global accumulated cyclone energy, or ACE — an integrated metric of the strength, frequency, and duration of tropical storms — was below average. There were five Cat 5s globally, which is near the 1990-2024 average of 5.3 per year.
Sea level rise is accelerating
During 2024, global sea levels rose at a pace of about 4.5 millimeters per yr (0.18 inches per year), according to an October 2024 paper, “The rate of global sea level rise doubled during the past three decades.” In 1992, sea level was rising at about 2.1 mm/yr, so sea level rise has more than doubled over 31 years. If this rate of acceleration continues, sea level rise will be about 5 mm/yr in 2030 and 6.5 mm/yr by 2050. This would cause a 169 mm (6.7 in) rise over the next 30 years, comparable to the mid-range sea level projections from the most recent IPCC report. The authors wrote, “Such rates would represent an evolving challenge for adaptation efforts.”
Hottest year on record for the contiguous United States
Like the planet as a whole, the contiguous United States had its highest annual average temperature on record in 2024. Calculated from data going back to 1895, the old record from 2012 of 55.27 degrees Fahrenheit (12.93 degrees Celsius) was broken by 0.24°F (0.13°C).
Seventeen states had their hottest year on record, and all 48 contiguous states except for Oregon and Washington had a top-five warmest year (see Fig. 4 below). No single month was a record-setter nationally, but there was strikingly consistent warmth from February onward, with each month among the top 20 warmest of the last 130 years.
Independent meteorologist Guy Walton (@climateguyw.bsky.social) analyzed NOAA data and found a preliminary U.S. total of 38,765 record daily high maximums and 10,423 record daily low minimums in 2024. The first half of the 2020s has seen a ratio of about 2.4 record daily highs for every record daily low, according to Walton. This ratio continues to increase over time, consistent with a 2009 study on which Walton was coauthor that projected a ratio of around 20 to 1 by mid-century.
The nation’s rainfall and snowfall in 2024 painted a highly variegated picture. The year as a whole was the 29th wettest out of 130 years of data. However, alongside several disastrous floods — including the one associated with Hurricane Helene that devastated areas in and around the western mountains of North Carolina — much of the country was bone-dry from late summer well into autumn, pushing the percentage of the contiguous U.S. experiencing drought or abnormal dryness to its highest level (87.78%) since the U.S. Drought Monitor was established in 2000.
U.S. billion-dollar weather events: 27 in 2024
The inflation-adjusted tally of U.S. billion-dollar weather disasters in 2024 was 27, falling just short of the record of 28, set in 2023. The 2024 billion-dollar disasters included 17 severe storm events, five hurricanes, one wildfire, one drought, one flood, and two winter storms. The average number of billion-dollar disasters for a full year for the most recent five years (2020–2024) is 23.
The many extremes of 2024 pushed the U.S. Climate Extremes Index to a record-high level of 2024. This measure relates to the fraction of the country experiencing various extremes, including much below or much above average temperature, severe drought, hurricane landfalls, and a high fraction of precipitation falling in extreme one-day events. A total of 47.38% of the contiguous U.S. experienced at least one of the index’s defining events in 2024, well above the old record of 41.88% from 2020 in data going back to 1910.
U.S. tornadoes got off to a slow start in 2024, but from May through September and toward late December, there was prolific activity. Oklahoma recorded 152 tornadoes, the largest annual total on record for that twister-notorious state. In all, the year produced 1,759 confirmed tornadoes in the U.S., the second-largest total in 85 years of official tracking. The NWS Storm Prediction Center also maintains an “inflation-adjusted” tornado count that takes into account the sharply increased number of tornadoes found by spotters, chasers, and others since the 1980s; this version also found that 2024 was the nation’s second-busiest tornado year on record.
At least 54 people were killed by U.S. tornadoes in 2024. As in most years, more than half of these fatalities (33) occurred in manufactured/mobile homes, where less than 10% of all U.S. residents live.
A La Niña event begins but is expected to end by May
A weak La Niña event has just begun, NOAA reported in its January monthly discussion of the state of the El Niño/Southern Oscillation, or ENSO. La Niña conditions are expected to persist through February-April 2025 (59% chance), with a transition to ENSO-neutral likely during March-May 2025 (60% chance). For the upcoming Atlantic hurricane season (August-September-October), the January NOAA/Columbia University’s International Research Institute for Climate and Society forecast called for a 35% chance of La Niña, a 44% chance of ENSO-neutral, and a 21% chance of El Niño. El Niño conditions tend to suppress Atlantic hurricane activity through an increase in wind shear, but La Niña conditions tend to have the opposite effect.
Arctic sea ice: lowest December extent on record
Arctic sea ice extent during December 2024 was the lowest in the 47-year satellite record, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. The annual Arctic Report Card was issued on December 10 and reported these highlights from 2024:
- Arctic annual surface air temperatures ranked second-warmest since 1900.
- Summer 2024 was the wettest summer on record, and Arctic precipitation has shown an increasing trend from 1950 through 2024, with the most pronounced increases occurring in winter.
- In September 2024, the extent of sea ice, which has a profound influence on the Arctic environment, was the sixth-lowest in the 45-year satellite record.
- Tundra greenness, a measure of expanding shrub cover due to warming temperatures, ranked second-highest in the 25-year satellite record.
- When including the impact of increased wildfire activity, the Arctic tundra region has shifted from storing carbon in the soil to becoming a carbon dioxide source.
- Arctic migratory tundra caribou populations have declined by 65% over the last two to three decades. Although the generally smaller coastal herds of the western Arctic have seen some recovery over roughly the last decade, previously large inland herds are continuing a long-term decline or remain at the lowest populations noted by Indigenous elders.
- The Northwest Passage through the Canadian Archipelago became clear of ice along the southern route in late August. The summer 2024 extent in the passage reached the lowest observed in the satellite record.
- At the end of summer 2024, the multiyear ice extent was similar to 2022 and 2023 values, 40% of the multiyear extents in the 1980s and 1990s.
Antarctic sea ice loss finally slows down
Antarctic sea ice loss slowed significantly in December after a prolonged period of record to near-record daily lows set in 2023 and 2024. December’s extent was the ninth-lowest on record.
A slew of national and territorial heat records in 2024
International weather records researcher Maximiliano Herrera (who posts on Bluesky and X) monitors the pulse of the planet in remarkable detail, and he logged 22 nations or territories that set or tied their all-time reliably measured heat records in 2024 and no nations that set or tied an all-time cold record. Six nations or territories beat or tied their old all-time heat record multiple times in 2024. According to Herrera, the record for most national/territorial all-time heat records in a year is 24, set in 2019. In 2023, 21 such records were set.
Among global weather stations having at least 40 years of record-keeping, Herrera documented 502 that exceeded (not just tied) their all-time heat record in 2024 and six that set an all-time cold record. For comparison, 597 stations set their all-time heat record in 2023, 762 did so in 202, and 404 did so in 2021.
Twenty-two all-time national/territorial heat record set in 2024
Cocos Islands (Australia): 32.8°C (91.0°F), February 28, February 29, April 7 (tie) at Cocos Islands Airport; broken again with 33.2°C (91.8°F) on December 3 at the same location;
Costa Rica: 41.0°C (105.8°F) at Cerro Huacalito, March 6; broken again with 41.5°C, March 23, at the same location;
Comoros: 36.2°C (97.2°F) at Hahaya Airport, March 12;
Congo Brazzaville: 39.6°C (103.3°F) at Impfondo, March 13;
Maldives: 35.1°C (95.2°F) at Hanimadhoo, March 24; tied at the same location on April 11;
Togo: 44.0°C (111.2°F) at Mango, March 31;
Mali: 48.5°C (119.3°F) at Kayes, April 3;
Belize: 42.3°C (108.1°F) at Barton Creek, April 10; tied on May 17 at Chaa Creek;
Chad: 48.0°C (118.4°F) at Faya, April 24; tied on June 5 at the same location;
Cambodia: 42.8°C (109.0°F) at Preah Viehar and Svay Leu, April 27;
Laos: 43.7°C (110.7°F) at Tha Ngon, May 1; (3rd time that the previous all-time record was beaten in 2024);
Ghana: 44.6°C (112.3°F) at Navrongo, May 1;
Palau: 35.0°C (95.0°F) at Babelthuap Int. Airport, May 29 (tie); beaten again with (Palau) 35.6°C at Koror on June 2; and
Egypt: 50.9°C (123.6°F) at Assuan, June 7;
Mexico: 52.0°C (125.6°F) at Tepache, June 20 (tie);
Dominican Republic: 41.4°C (106.5°F), at Boca de Mao, August 8;
Colombia: 43.4°C (110.1°F), at Jerusalen, September 14;
Saint Barthelemy (France): 35.8°C (96.4°F) at Gustavia, September 24;
Dominica: 36.6°C (97.9°F) at Canefield;
Bolivia: 47.0°C (116.6°F) at Villamontes, October 7 (tie);
French Guiana (France): 39.3°C (102.7°F) at Gustavia, November 6; and
French Southern Territories (France): 37.5°C (99.5°F) at Juan de Nova Island, December 25.
No nations or territories set or tied an all-time national/territorial cold record in 2024.
An additional 202 monthly national/territorial heat records beaten or tied in 2024
In addition to the 22 all-time national/territorial records listed above (plus six, for the records set in two different months in the Maldives, Belize, Chad, and Palau; and three different months in the Cocos Islands), 202 nations or territories set monthly all-time heat records in 2024, for a total of 230 monthly all-time records. Here are the additional 202 monthly heat records set in 2024:
- January (15): Mayotte, Dominica, Saba, Cocos Islands, Malta, Hong Kong, Ivory Coast, Maldives, Andorra, Portugal, Costa Rica, UK, Seychelles, Martinique, St. Barthelemy
- February (18): Maldives, French Guiana, Guyana, Dominica, Curacao, St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, U.S. Virgin Islands, Belize, North Korea, Morocco, French Southern Territories, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Peru, Laos, Chad, Togo
- March (24): Paraguay, Samoa, Zimbabwe, Dominica, Cameroon, Ghana, Guyana, French Guiana, Dominican Republic, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Saba, British Indian Ocean Territories, Solomon Islands, Suriname, Guatemala, Croatia, Poland, Belarus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Benin, Burkina Faso
- April (28): Dominica, French Southern Territories, Costa Rica, French Polynesia, French Guiana, Guyana, Mauritania, Ivory Coast, Saba, Comoros, British Indian Ocean Territories, Mauritius, China, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Cape Verde, Nepal, Zimbabwe, Cyprus, Turkey, Niger, Jordan, Israel, Vietnam, Colombia, St. Barthelemy, Laos
- May (20): Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Tuvalu, Ivory Coast, Dominica, Niue, Brazil, Martinique, Maldives, Costa Rica, Mexico, Belize, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Saba, Cocos Islands, Niger, Kuwait, Iraq, St. Eustatius
- June (25): French Southern Territories, Guatemala, Aruba, Curacao, Zimbabwe, Comoros, Grenada, St. Eustatius, North Korea, New Zealand, Dominica, Cocos Islands, Costa Rica, Mauritius, Martinique, Taiwan, Paraguay, Algeria, Turkey, St. Pierre and Miquelon, Kuwait, China, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Malaysia
- July (16): U.S. Virgin Islands, Palau, Cocos Islands, Aruba, British Indian Ocean Territories, Dominica, Saudi Arabia, Belarus, Mauritius, Maldives, Curacao, Solomon Islands, Northern Marianas, Brunei. Mozambique, French Guiana
- August (11): Palau, French Southern Territories, Australia, British Indian Ocean Territories, Svalbard, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Ecuador, Comoros, Guadeloupe
- September (14): Taiwan, Slovenia, Sweden, Norway, Mexico, Colombia, North Korea, Hong Kong, Cuba, Bangladesh, Nepal, Cocos Islands, Gabon, Malaysia
- October (11): U.S., Mexico, Saba, Maldives, British Indian Ocean Territories, Brazil, Seychelles, Chile, French Southern Territories, Solomon Islands, Guadeloupe
- November (12): India, Japan, Iran, Pakistan, UAE, Faroe Islands, Maldives, Portugal, British Indian Ocean Territories, Iceland, French Southern Territories, Vanuatu
- December (8): Norway, Curacao, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Botswana, Maldives, Portugal, Liberia
A total of three monthly national/territorial cold records beaten in 2024
In addition to the three all-time cold records listed above, six nations or territories set a monthly all-time cold record in 2024, for a total of nine monthly cold records for the year:
China set an all-time cold record for the month of February.
Qatar set an all-time cold record for the month of March.
Myanmar set an all-time cold record for the month of September.
Notable global heat and cold records for 2024
- Hottest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: 54.1°C (129.4°F) at Death Valley, Calif. (USA), July 8
- Coldest temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: -58.5°C (-73.3°F) at Yurty, Russia, January 1
- Hottest temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: 49.9°C (121.8°F) at Carnarvon, Australia, February 18
- Coldest temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: -82.1°C (-115.8°F) at Dome Fuji, Antarctica, July 16
- Highest 2024 average temperature in the Southern Hemisphere: 30.2°C (86.4°F) at Surabya AP, Indonesia
- Highest 2024 average temperature in the Northern Hemisphere: 32.5°C (90.5°F) at Yelimane, Mali
Earth’s all-time record for hottest yearly average temperature was 32.9°C (91.2°F) at Makkah, Saudi Arabia, in 2010 and 2016.
Fourteen notable hemispherical and continental temperature records set in 2024
- Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in January in Asia: 28.5°C (83.3°F) at Bangkok Klong Thoey, Thailand, January 14
- Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in February in Asia: 29.1°C (84.1°F) at Diego Garcia (British Indian Territories), February 18
- Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in March in South America: 31.6°C (88.9°F) at Mariscal Estigarribia, Paraguay, March 17
- Highest temperature ever recorded in April in Africa: 48.5°C (119.3°F) at Kayes, Mali, April 3
- Highest temperature ever recorded in May in North America: 51.1°C (124.0°F) at Gallinas, Mexico, May 9
- Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in May in the Southern Hemisphere: 29.7°C (85.5°F) at Funafuti, Tuvalu, May 21
- Highest temperature ever recorded in June in Africa: 50.9°C (123.6°F) at Assuan, Egypt, June 7
- Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in June in the Southern Hemisphere: 29.3°C (84.7°F) at Funafuti, Tuvalu, June 18
- Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in July in the Southern Hemisphere: 28.8°C (83.8°F) at Nukunonu, Tokelau, New Zealand territory, July 16
- Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in August in the Southern Hemisphere: 29.7°C (85.5°F) at Filadelfia, Paraguay, August 3
- Highest temperature ever recorded in August and in all of winter in Oceania: 41.6°C (105.8°F) at Yampi Sound, Australia, August 26
- Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in September in the Southern Hemisphere: 30.9°C (87.6°F) at Cuiaba, Brazil, September 26
- Highest temperature ever recorded in October in North America: 47.2°C (117.0°F) at Palm Springs and Indio (USA); the record was tied again on October 6 at Ejido Nuevo Leon, Mexico.
- Highest minimum temperature ever recorded in December in North America: 28.6°C (83.5°F) at Hato, Curacao, Netherlands, December 1.
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