The World Meteorological Organisation is warning that 2024 could be the warmest year on record “with global average near surface temperature even higher than in 2023.”
The WMO in a report to UN Secretary-General António Guterres ahead of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 29th Conference of Parties (COP29), in Baku, Azerbaijan shows that global temperatures covering January to September 2024 and based on six international datasets shows a rise in temperatures.
“Today, the World Meteorological Organization and partners tell us that 2024 is on track to be the hottest year ever recorded, almost two months before it ends,” said Mr Guterres and adds, “Humanity’s torching the planet and paying the price.”
A report to be released next week by WMO which is an update on State of the Climate 2024, will address key climate indicators including the global average near surface temperature, ocean heat, sea level rise, sea ice and glaciers. “It will also provide information on extreme weather and climate events and impacts on sustainable development,” says a statement released by the WMO.
The WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo will present the highlights of the State of the Climate Update at COP29 in Baku.
WMO uses datasets based on climatological data from observing sites and ships and buoys in global marine networks, developed and maintained by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, the United Kingdom’s Met Office Hadley Centre and the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit and the Berkeley Earth group.
WMO also uses reanalysis datasets from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and its Copernicus Climate Change Service, and the Japan Meteorological Agency. Reanalysis combines millions of meteorological and marine observations, including from satellites, using a weather model to produce a more complete analysis of the state of the atmosphere. The combination of observations with modelled values makes it possible to estimate temperatures at any time and in any place across the globe, even in observationally-sparse areas such as the polar regions and oceans.
According to the ERA5 (a global climate reanalysis that provides hourly estimates of atmospheric, land, and oceanic climate variables) dataset from Copernicus Climate Change Service, October 2024 was the second warmest October on record, after October 2023.
