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United Nations weather body highlights a surge in greenhouse gas levels that led the average global temperature to an all-time high in 2024.

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• As per the U.N. weather body surge in greenhouse gas levels accelerating glacier and sea ice loss, raising sea levels.
• According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the annual average mean temperatures in 2024 stood at 1.55 degrees Celsius (2.79 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels, which is 0.10C above the 2023 levels.

Key Highlights of the Report

The report also highlights some other key factors that could have driven global temperature rises, including changes in the solar cycle, a massive volcanic eruption and a decrease in cooling aerosols.

Extreme weather wreaked havoc like droughts, floods and wildfires forcing the displacement of 800,000 people, the highest since records began in 2008.

Ocean heat also reached its highest on record and the rate of warming is accelerating, with rising ocean CO2 concentrations also driving up acidification levels.

Preliminary estimates put the current long-term average increase at between 1.34-1.41C, closing in on but not yet exceeding the Paris threshold.

• Countries agreed in the 2015 Paris Agreement to strive to limit temperature increases to within 1.5C above the 1850-1900 average.

As per the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), sea levels have risen by an average of 4.7 millimetres a year from 2015 to 2024, compared to 2.1 mm from 1993 to 2002.

Impact of Global Temperature Rise

• Sea level rise driven by climate change poses significant threats, including increased coastal flooding, erosion, saltwater intrusion into freshwater sources, and displacement of coastal communities, impacting infrastructure, ecosystems, and human livelihoods. 
• Hotter weather also saps moisture from vegetation, turning it into dry fuel that helps fires spread.
• More greenhouse gas emissions will lead to more climate extremes and widespread damaging effects across our planet.