Earth’s climate swings increasingly out of balance

Climate change imbalance drives record heat surge, UN warns

Muhammad Asghar | GlobalBeat

GENEVA, March 29. Earth’s climate system slammed into uncharted territory last year as heat-trapping gases and global temperatures both hit new peaks.

Carbon dioxide levels jumped the fastest rate on record while Antarctic sea ice shrank to its smallest extent since measurements began.

The World Meteorological Organization’s annual report released Tuesday showed seven climate indicators broke historical limits. Global average temperature reached 1.55 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for the first time, breaching the 1.5°C threshold that nations pledged to avoid under the 2015 Paris Agreement.

“We’ve never seen anything like this,” WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo told reporters. “The climate system is screaming at us.”

The agency documented unprecedented ocean heat content reaching depths of 2,000 meters. Marine heat waves blanketed 32 percent of the global ocean on any given day. Sea levels rose at double the rate of the 1990s.

Saulo said the data painted “a bleak picture” of accelerating change. She noted that 2024 marked the second-hottest year since measurements began in the 1850s, trailing only 2023.

The report tracked cascading impacts across the planet. Greenland’s ice sheet lost 460 billion tons of mass. Glaciers in North America and Europe retreated at record speeds. Permafrost temperatures reached new highs across the Arctic.

“We are seeing the acceleration of climate change in real time,” Saulo said. “These are not statistical projections. This is happening now.”

The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rose to 421 parts per million, up from 418 ppm the previous year. Methane levels increased at the fastest clip since measurements began four decades ago.

Oceanographer John Abraham at the University of St. Thomas called the findings “terrifying” and “completely unprecedented.” He told GlobalBeat that ocean heat content had increased by the equivalent energy of 7.2 Hiroshima atomic bombs exploding every second for the entire year.

“The physics are crystal clear,” Abraham said. “More greenhouse gases mean more heat. More heat means more extreme weather, more ice loss, more sea level rise.”

The WMO documented 112 extreme weather events across every inhabited continent. Floods devastated Spain, Brazil and Pakistan. Drought gripped southern Africa. Hurricane Beryl became the earliest Category 5 storm on record in the Atlantic.

Climate scientist Michael Mann at the University of Pennsylvania said the data confirmed what researchers feared. “We’ve long predicted that we would see the impacts of climate change accelerate,” he wrote in an email. “Now we are seeing it play out in real time.”

The report highlighted emerging feedback loops that could worsen warming. Wildfires across Canada released 1.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to India’s annual emissions. Melting permafrost threatened to release vast stores of methane.

Arctic ice researcher Julienne Stroeve at the University of Manitoba said the Antarctic sea ice decline shocked scientists. “We expected some decrease but nothing like this,” she said. “The loss of reflective ice means more solar energy gets absorbed by the ocean, amplifying warming.”

Developing nations bore the brunt of climate impacts despite contributing least to the problem. Cyclone Freddy killed more than 1,400 people across Malawi and Mozambique. Floods displaced 8 million in Pakistan. East Africa faced its fifth consecutive failed rainy season.

“The injustice is staggering,” said Harjeet Singh at the Climate Action Network. “Poor communities are losing homes, crops and loved ones while rich countries keep burning fossil fuels.”

The WMO report landed days before governments meet in Baku for UN climate talks. Negotiators will hammer out details of a new climate finance target to help vulnerable nations adapt.

“These numbers should concentrate minds in Baku,” said United Nations climate chief Simon Stiell. “We are running out of time to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.”

Background

The World Meteorological Organization has tracked global climate indicators since 1950 using data from thousands of weather stations, ocean buoys and satellites. The Geneva-based UN agency compiles observations from national meteorological services worldwide to produce authoritative assessments of planetary change.

Scientists have measured atmospheric carbon dioxide since 1958 at Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory. The famous “Keeling Curve” shows concentrations rising from 315 ppm when measurements began to over 420 ppm today, an increase driven almost entirely by fossil fuel combustion.

Global temperature records extend back to 1880. Analysis by NASA, NOAA and other agencies shows the world has warmed about 1.2°C since pre-industrial times. The last nine years rank among the ten warmest on record, with each decade since the 1980s warmer than the previous.

What’s Next

The WMO will release its next climate update in September ahead of the UN climate summit in Baku. Researchers expect 2025 to continue the warming trend as El Niño conditions persist through mid-year before giving way to cooler La Niña patterns.