The latest climate indicators report reveals that in 2024, global temperatures rose to 1.52°C above pre-industrial levels, primarily driven by record-high greenhouse gas emissions from human activities such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation.

Over the past decade, human-induced warming accounts for nearly all observed temperature increases, with annual emissions averaging around 53 billion tonnes of CO2, fueling climate change.

This rise in temperature is linked to more extreme weather events and adverse impacts on billions of lives, emphasizing the urgent need for swift reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Scientists warn that if current emission rates persist, the Earth's remaining carbon budget to stay below 1.5°C will be exhausted in just over three years, with only 130 billion tonnes of CO2 left from the start of 2025.

This limited carbon budget underscores the critical importance of reducing emissions quickly, as the window to meet the Paris Agreement targets is rapidly closing.

The window to limit global warming to 1.5°C is closing fast, with models indicating that swift and significant emission reductions over the next decade are essential to prevent surpassing this threshold.

Crossing the 1.5°C threshold could lead to severe impacts, especially for island nations and ecosystems, and may trigger irreversible climate tipping points like the collapse of the Greenland Ice Sheet and Amazon rainforest transformation.

Earth’s energy imbalance has doubled since the 1970s and 1980s, with about 91% of excess heat stored in the oceans, leading to ocean warming, sea level rise, and increased climate extremes.

Since 2019, global mean sea level has risen approximately 26 mm, with accelerated rates threatening coastal regions with increased storm surges, erosion, and ecosystem disruption.

While reducing emissions remains the most cost-effective strategy, technological advances in achieving net negative emissions could potentially lower global temperatures if they surpass 1.5°C.

Even if emissions drop to zero today, ocean heat absorption will cause continued warming for decades, but natural processes may eventually stabilize temperatures over thousands of years.

Record levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, including emissions from sectors like international aviation returning to pre-pandemic levels, continue to drive global heating.

From 2015 to 2024, the human-caused warming rate was about 0.27°C per decade, with the recent decade being 0.31°C warmer than the previous, indicating an acceleration in climate change.