NASA confirms 2024 warmest year on record

LOS ANGELES -- Earth's average surface temperature in 2024 was the warmest on record, according to an analysis led by NASA scientists.

Global temperatures in 2024 were 1.28 degrees Celsius above the agency's 20th-century baseline (1951-1980). The new record comes after 15 consecutive months (June 2023 through August 2024) of monthly temperature records — an unprecedented heat streak, according to NASA.

NASA scientists estimate Earth in 2024 was about 1.47 degrees Celsius warmer than the mid-19th century average (1850-1900). For more than half of 2024, average temperatures were more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above the baseline, and the annual average, with mathematical uncertainties, may have exceeded the level for the first time, said NASA.

"Once again, the temperature record has been shattered — 2024 was the hottest year since record keeping began in 1880," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "Between record breaking temperatures and wildfires currently threatening our centers and workforce in California, it has never been more important to understand our changing planet."

Scientists attributed the warming trend of recent decades to heat-trapping carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases.

In 2022 and 2023, Earth saw record increases in carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, according to a recent international analysis. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased from pre-industrial levels in the 18th century of approximately 278 parts per million to about 420 parts per million today.