International ReportsImportant2024-11-11

WMO State of the Global Climate 2024 Update

In News

What Happened

On November 11, 2024, the World Meteorological Organization released the provisional State of the Global Climate 2024 update at the COP29 summit in Baku. The report confirmed that 2024 is on track to be the warmest year on record, with average temperatures reaching 1.54 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels between January and September. This temporary breach of the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold was heavily driven by record greenhouse gas emissions and a strong El Nino event.

Why It Matters

For India, a rapidly warming climate intensifies extreme weather events like prolonged heatwaves, erratic monsoons, and coastal flooding. The accelerating glacier melt and sea-level rise highlighted in the report directly threaten India's Himalayan water security and its extensive coastal economy. This underscores the urgent need for domestic climate adaptation and timely access to global climate finance.

Background

History & Context

The World Meteorological Organization has been publishing the State of the Global Climate reports annually since 1993 to track global temperature trends and key climate indicators. The 1.5 degrees Celsius limit was established as a crucial threshold under the 2015 Paris Agreement to prevent catastrophic and irreversible climate impacts. While a single year exceeding this mark does not constitute a permanent breach of the Paris target, which is measured over decades, it serves as a stark warning of accelerating climate change.

What Changed

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BEFORE: The year 2023 was previously the warmest year on record at 1.45 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial baseline. NOW: The year 2024 surpassed this record, reaching 1.54 degrees Celsius above the baseline in the first nine months and becoming the first calendar year to temporarily breach the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold.
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BEFORE: Global ocean heat content had peaked and set records in 2023. NOW: Ocean heat content set a new record in 2024, continuing an unbroken eight-year streak of record-breaking ocean warming that accelerates sea-level rise and ocean acidification.
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BEFORE: The 2023 warming trend was initially developing without the full effect of the El Nino weather pattern. NOW: A strong El Nino peak in early 2024 compounded the long-term warming from anthropogenic greenhouse gases, turbo-charging global temperatures to unprecedented highs.

Prelims Angle

NCERT Connection

This event directly links to NCERT Class 11 Physical Geography Chapter 11 - Climate Change, which covers the greenhouse effect, global warming, and climate variability. The WMO report serves as a practical application of these concepts by showing how anthropogenic greenhouse gases combine with natural cycles like the El Nino-Southern Oscillation to disrupt the Earth's thermal balance.

Practice Questions

Q1

Correct Statement(s)

With reference to the WMO State of the Global Climate 2024 Update, which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. The year 2024 became the first calendar year to temporarily exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold above pre-industrial levels. 2. A single year breaching the 1.5 degrees Celsius mark indicates that the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement has definitively failed.

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