Until Now
EnvironmentScienceGeology

The first year above 1.5 degrees

2024 is confirmed as the first calendar year warmer than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

When
Known to
± 12 hours
Era
Contemporary, Holocene

Announced on 10 January 2025, the finding did not breach the Paris target, which refers to a multi-decade average, but it arrived roughly a decade earlier than most projections. 2023 and 2024 together were far warmer than models had expected, and the reasons — reduced shipping sulphate, a persistent fall in cloud albedo, the solar cycle — are still argued over.

Just before

Just after