The World Meteorological Organisation on Monday warned that the record-breaking temperatures of 2024 will likely continue next year. There is no let up in the greenhouse gas emissions and the levels have rather grown on record, locking even more heat for the future. 2024 is expected to be the hottest on record, surpassing 2023, which was the previous warmest year. The UK Met Office outlook for 2025, suggested the year to be amongst the three warmest years for global average temperature, falling in line just behind 2024 and 2023.
The WMO has observed that 2024 is set to be the warmest year on record, exceeding the Paris Agreement threshold of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for the first time. Earlier, the year 2023 missed this threshold by a narrow margin and ended up with a record-breaking rise of 1.45°C, the warmest on the list so far.
The top ten hottest years on record have happened in the last ten years, including 2024, said the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his New Year message. This is climate breakdown in real-time, he said. The rise in global temperatures is leading to extreme heat events becoming more frequent and severe, as well. Unless checked with international cooperation to address the risk, a meltdown seems imminent, leading to climatic chaos.
The likely La Nina, as predicted earlier in 2024, missed its appearance. The La Nina, which otherwise led to ocean cooling would have contributed to lowering the Pacific temperatures and averting 2024 to be the warmest on record. Now, its shortest stint in early 2025, followed by ENSO-Neutral from boreal spring to the end of the forecast period, may not suffice to lower the ocean temperatures adequately and significantly. If the other factors remain unchanged too, 2025 may also follow the same track, without much of succour.
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