2024 was the warmest year since records began being kept 175 years ago. According to the World Meteorological Organization’s latest State of the Global Climate report:
- Each of the past ten years set a new global temperature record.
- Each of the past eight years set a new record for ocean heat content.
- The 18 lowest Arctic sea-ice extents on record were all in the past 18 years.
- The three lowest Antarctic ice extents were in the past three years.
- The largest three-year loss of glacier mass on record occurred in the past three years.
- The rate of sea level rise has doubled since satellite measurements began.[1]
There is no room for doubt: Earth is getting hotter. The question now is how hot will it get?
At 10° it’s the new equilibrium. Not “for a while”. Not “until feedback systems kick in”. After the feedback systems stop the increase it will be 10° hotter and stay there for tens of thousands of years.
Exactly. Until the feedback systems kick in. Earth’s temperature has been a rollercoaster ride in geological time. As you surely know already.