Photo of a beach. People stand on the shore and wind turbines are visible in the distance. Much like 2023 , many climate and energy records were broken in 2024. It was Earth’s hottest year on record by a wide margin, breaking the previous record that was set just last year by an even larger margin. Human-caused climate-warming pollution and atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations reached new heights. But the record deployment of clean technology solutions in 2024 prevented emissions from rising even higher yet. Scientists found many other planetary vital signs also at record levels , including ocean acidity, sea level rise, ice cover, heat-related mortality rates, meat production, and loss of forest cover. But they also noted that the level of global deforestation due directly to human activities in places like the Brazilian Amazon is declining, fewer organizations are investing in fossil fuel company stocks, and more countries are charging a price for the climate-warming emissions from an increasing number of economic sectors. In short, 2024 saw a mixed bag of worrying climate records combined with some advances in policy solutions. But the U.S. election results narrowed the window of possible climate progress in the coming years. 2024 was a hot year for the climate – and clean energy When the final data is in, 2024 will easily break the record for Earth’s hottest annual average global surface temperature. That record was set in 2023 , which easily broke the previous record set in 2016 and tied in 2020. Climate change also played a role in worsening many extreme weather disasters in 2024 . A chart showing global surface changes since the late 1800s. Overall, there has been a gradual increase, with variation during La Nina and El Nino years. The exceptional heat of the past two years […]
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