2024: Another Year of Hot Records

Let's talk about 2024. It was a really warm year, like, really warm. NASA and NOAA said it was the warmest year ever recorded. This isn't just a one-time thing; 2023 was also the warmest year before that. The difference between 2024 and 2023? A tiny 0. 18 degrees Fahrenheit. Scientists have been predicting this warming trend for a while. It's like they made a forecast and the weather listened. Earth was about 2. 65 degrees Fahrenheit warmer in 2024 compared to the average from 1850 to 1900. Almost everywhere was hotter than usual, especially North America, Europe, Africa, and South America. Asia and the Arctic were a bit cooler, but still warmer than average. The past ten years have been the hottest since we started keeping records in 1850. Why was 2024 so hot? Blame El Niño, a natural climate pattern that makes waters warmer in the Pacific. It boosted the heat streak we saw. There were crazy heatwaves, like one in Mexico that killed over 100 people. Phoenix, Arizona, had a record 113 days with temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Climate change makes these heatwaves worse. It also causes droughts, stronger storms, and wildfires. As scientists were announcing these records, wildfires were burning in Los Angeles. The European Union's climate service agreed that 2024 was the first year global temps went over 1. 5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial times. This was a big deal because countries agreed in the Paris Agreement to keep warming under 1. 5 degrees Celsius. But don't worry, 2025 might be a bit cooler. El Niño's counterpart, La Niña, is coming back. It cools the Pacific and affects weather around the world. Still, who knows what will happen? Last year, scientists thought there was only a 1 in 3 chance that 2024 would be the warmest year. So, forecasting global temperatures is tough.

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