2024 could break 2023’s heat record, says UN – 01/12/2024 – Environment

This year could break the heat record recorded in 2023, the UN (United Nations) announced this Friday (12), making a new call for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change.

The WMO (World Meteorological Organization), linked to the UN, stated that the trend towards warming like that recorded between June and December 2023 will continue this year, still under the effects of El Niño.

The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) projected, in turn, that there is about a 33% chance that 2024 will be hotter than 2023, and a 99% chance that it will be among the five hottest hottest ever recorded.

Celeste Saulo, who recently took over as head of the WMO, warned that El Niño is likely to continue causing an increase in temperatures in 2024. The phenomenon is usually associated with an increase in temperatures around the world.

“Since El Niño tends to have its greatest impact on global temperatures after reaching its maximum point, in 2024 it could be even hotter,” explained Saulo. Noaa forecasts are that El Niño should start to cool down from April onwards.

The WMO’s annual report, which compiles several recognized databases, confirmed that 2023 was “by far” the hottest year on record. According to the organization, the average annual temperature in 2023 was 1.45°C above pre-industrial era levels (1850-1900).

This number is slightly lower than the estimate from the European climate observatory Copernicus. In its report released on Tuesday (9), the organization reported that last year there was an increase of 1.48°C in relation to pre-industrial levels.

The Paris Agreement on climate change set a goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

Saulo also stated that climate change is the biggest challenge facing humanity. “We need to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate the transition to renewable energy sources,” he highlighted.

In a statement, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said humanity’s actions are burning the Earth. “2023 was just a preview of the catastrophic future that awaits us if we do not act now. We must respond to record temperature rises with innovative actions,” he said.

“We can still avoid the worst of the climate catastrophe. But only if we act now with the necessary ambition to limit the increase in global temperature to 1.5°C and promote climate justice”, he highlighted.

According to NOAA, the global surface temperature in 2023 was 1.18°C higher than the 20th century average. It was also 0.15°C above that recorded in 2016, which held the title of hottest year on record.

Temperatures rose especially in the Arctic, northern North America, Central Asia, the North Atlantic and the eastern tropical Pacific, the NOAA report said.