Global warming alert: planet temperature exceeds the critical limit by 1.54º in 2024

Between January and September of this year, the average temperature of the planet exceeded that of the mid-19th century by 1.54 degrees Celsius, which is taken as a reference if we want to avoid catastrophic effects on nature and human beings, The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) indicated this Monday.

However, long-term global warming (three decades) remains below that threshold, although the measurements also indicate that the last ten years have been the warmest on record and that sea temperatures are increasing.

The last 9 years have been the hottest

The WMO State of the Climate Bulletin, which has been published to coincide with the opening of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Azerbaijan, indicates that the extent of ice in Antarctica has been the lowest ever observed so far this year, while the retreat of glaciers continues to accelerate.

And there is almost no doubt that the decade 2015-2024 will be the hottest ever seen, With which we can only hope that the rise in sea level and warming of the oceans continues, and extreme weather events causing further damage to communities and economies around the world.

Global warming is defined by scientific consensus as the increase in the global mean surface temperature, which is the average air temperature near the surface of the land and ocean, averaged over a thirty-year period, relative to pre-industrial era levels. In the first nine months of this year, temperatures were influenced not only by concentrations of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, but also by the El Niño phenomenon.

The WMO does not want to convey fatalism

By publishing these data, the WMO did not want to convey fatalism and pointed out that although at the moment the monthly and annual warming exceeds the 1.5º established limit, This does not mean that we have failed to achieve the objective of the Paris Agreement, since temperatures are subject to a series of anomalies. that can make them vary significantly. These include, for example, the El Niño and La Niña phenomena, or volcanic eruptions.

Despite this note of hope, the organization, which functions as the scientific arm of the United Nations, recognized that every fraction of a degree Celsius of warming matters for its impact on the intensity of extreme weather events.

“The unprecedented rains and floods, the rapid intensification of tropical cyclones, the deadly heat episodes, the relentless drought and the devastating forest fires that we have seen this year are our new reality and a preview of the future,” he commented. the Secretary General of the WMO, Celeste Saulo, cited in a statement.