Temperature Soars - January 2024

Temperatures on Earth have been 1.5 °C higher than pre-industrial levels for 12 months running, according to the European climate observatory. Experts in the field see this occurrence as a message to the human race. El Nino has exacerbated the world's already severe weather conditions, which include droughts, fires, and storms brought on by climate change.

Due to this, 2023 is shaping up to be the warmest year in the past 100,000 years.
The severe weather has continued into 2024, with the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) revealing that temperatures were 1.52 degrees Celsius higher than the 19th-century average from February 2023 to January 2024. Even if this is a major indicator of the 1.5 degree Celsius critical warming barrier set by the Paris climate accord, it does not mean that the limit has been permanently violated. The limit is determined over decades, according to scientists.

Heatwaves, droughts, floods, exacerbated storms, and water scarcity are just some of the prices that Johan Rockstrom from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research outlined while discussing the consequences of hitting 1.5 degrees Celsius. He stressed that the consequences of going beyond this limit were shown by what happened in 2023.

A string of severe weather events have occurred around the world in recent months, including record-breaking rainfall in California, record-high winter temperatures in southern Europe, devastating wildfires in South America, and an Amazon basin drought.

In light of recent events, Rockstrom has issued a stark warning that global warming is accelerating beyond the 1.5 degrees Celsius target set by the international community. Nevertheless, as El Nino passes, temperatures are predicted to drop slightly.

Copernicus reports that January 2024 was the warmest on record, continuing a streak of eight consecutive months with record-high temperatures. Compared to the pre-industrial average for January between 1850 and 1900, the total temperature was 1.66 degrees Celsius higher.

The combustion of fossil fuels is the main contributor to the ongoing increase in greenhouse gas emissions. In order to avoid going over the 1.5 degrees Celsius mark by the early 2030s, scientists stress the critical requirement of cutting these emissions in half within the next ten years. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations has issued a severe warning if this does not occur.