State of the Climate 2024 Report - continuing inconvenient truths abound

The State of the Climate Report 2024 from a consortium of scientists in mulitple institutions paints a grim picture for the direction of climate change with rising temperatures and greenhouse gas emissions. To quote an opening section of the report -

 “We are on the brink of an irreversible climate disaster. This is a global emergency beyond any doubt. Much of the very fabric of life on Earth is imperiled. We are stepping into a critical and unpredictable new phase of the climate crisis. For many years, scientists, including a group of more than 15,000, have sounded the alarm about the impending dangers of climate change driven by increasing greenhouse gas emissions and ecosystem change (Ripple et al. 2020 ). For half a century, global warming has been correctly predicted even before it was observed—and not only by independent academic scientists but also by fossil fuel companies (Supran et al. 2023 ). Despite these warnings, we are still moving in the wrong direction; fossil fuel emissions have increased to an all-time high, the 3 hottest days ever occurred in July of 2024.”

The graphs below from the report (figure 2) categorically demonstrate the upwards trends across a whole range of measures such as carbon dioxide emissions, methane emissions, nitrous oxide emissions, ocean heat, ocean levels and so on.

The report can be accessed at this link: State of the Climate Report 2024