European Union Scientists Declare 2024 the Hottest Year on Record

If you thought 2024 was a hot one, you're not alone. While many people felt the heat across the globe, folks in areas that already experience the summer swelter saw a huge spike in average temperatures during the year.

Experts say that 2024 is likely going to be named the hottest year thanks to different data trends, breaking a record set just one year prior in 2023.

Climate change seems to be one of the main factors ramping up the temperatures, which means that theoretically, 2024 may not hold the title for long.

Keep reading to learn when experts will determine which year is the hottest on record.

On Dec. 9, 2024, European Union (EU) scientists declared 2024 the warmest year since records began. This conclusion was drawn thanks to data from the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), an organization that tracks global trends on climate change, per Reuters.

Data from January to November helped cement 2024 as the hottest year, where average global temperatures exceeded 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit above where they were between 1800 and 1900.

Friederike Otto, a senior lecturer at Imperial College London, told Reuters, "While 2025 might be slightly cooler than 2024, if a La Nina event develops, this does not mean temperatures will be 'safe' or 'normal.'"

He added, "We will still experience high temperatures, resulting in dangerous heatwaves, droughts, wildfires and tropical cyclones."

According to the Associated Press, the summer of 2024 pushed the envelope as far as heat was concerned, with June and August breaking global records.

2024's numbers appear to have been reached without the help of El Niño — the weather system that the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration says is responsible for bringing warmer and more arid temperatures to the U.S. — putting the onus on human-led climate change.

C3S noted that greenhouse gas concentrations also reached record breaking numbers, with carbon dioxide showing up 2.4 parts per million (ppm) higher than the year prior, and methane increasing by parts per billion (ppb) over the same period. Those greenhouse gas numbers in combination with the effects of El Niño seemed to play a major part in the increased heat.

Unfortunately, rising temperatures aren't all that we're likely to experience as a result of the continued climate change driving these numbers up. More instances of severe weather, including rainfall in some areas and wildfires in others, may also continue to be on the horizon unless something is done to reduce those greenhouse gasses and alleviate some of these temperatures.

In January 2024, C3S named 2023 "the hottest year on record." Researchers came to their conclusion by tracking different indicators over the calendar year, noting that 2023 beat out the previous record holder (2016) by quite a big difference.

Even with near certainty that things won't change drastically enough to change their decision, C3S will wait until the year comes to a close before making the call. “In order for 2024 not to become the warmest on record, we need to see very significant landscape cooling for the remaining few months, which doesn’t look likely at this stage,” the director explained.

C3S noted that July and August were by far the warmest months of the year and that June through August 2023 was the warmest "boreal summer" since they began tracking the data back in 1850.

This article, originally published on Sept. 23, 2024, has been updated to reflect new information.