The year 2024 marked a grim milestone in Earth's climate history, surpassing the 1.5-degree Celsius warming threshold above pre-industrial levels for the first time, according to the World Meteorological Organization. This threshold, a key target set in the 2015 Paris Agreement to combat climate change, was considered a critical limit to avoid the most severe impacts of global warming.
The record-breaking temperature reflects a trend of increasingly intense heat waves, hurricanes, and wildfires. The average global temperature in 2024 was higher than any year on record, exceeding the previous hottest year, 2023. This warming trend is attributed to the continued burning of fossil fuels, which releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, trapping heat and causing the planet to warm.
Despite efforts to transition to cleaner energy sources, global carbon dioxide emissions reached record highs in 2024, indicating a continued reliance on fossil fuels. This trend makes staying below the 1.5-degree threshold increasingly challenging, with scientists now suggesting that limiting warming to 1.6 degrees may be the best achievable outcome.
The 1.5-degree target served as a crucial benchmark for climate action, prompting governments and businesses to set ambitious goals for reducing emissions. However, the target has also sparked tension between developed and developing nations, with some countries arguing that the required emissions cuts would hinder their economic development.
While the 1.5-degree target may be increasingly difficult to achieve, scientists emphasize the importance of continuing to strive for deep emissions reductions to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. The consequences of exceeding this threshold include more frequent and severe heat waves, water shortages, coastal flooding, and the loss of vital ecosystems like coral reefs and Arctic sea ice.