This image shows a ship navigating a path between icebergs released by glaciers around Milne Land, caused by rising temperatures in the Scoresby Sound Fjord, Eastern Greenland, in this Aug. 15, 2023, file photo. AFP-Yonhap

Last year was the warmest on record, with global temperatures estimated to be more than 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Wednesday.

According to a report published by the U.N. agency, 2024 was the first calendar year to pass that threshold, with a global mean near-surface temperature 1.55 degrees Celsius above the 1850-1900 average. It was the warmest year in 175 years, clearly surpassing the previous record set in 2023 of 1.45 degrees Celsius above the threshold.

This does not mean that the international 1.5-degree target agreed through the Paris accord was broken, given that the figure refers to a long-term average over decades, not individual years. Nevertheless, this is a concerning sign, according to U.N. leaders.

“While a single year above 1.5 degrees of warming does not indicate that the long-term temperature goals of the Paris Agreement are out of reach, it is a wake-up call that we are increasing the risks to our lives, economies and to the planet,” WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also said achieving that target is still possible — but only if countries around the world step up efforts.

“Leaders must step up to make it happen — seizing the benefits of cheap, clean renewables for their people and economies — with new national climate plans due this year,” he said.

The report attributed the temperature rise seen between 2023 and 2024 to the ongoing rise in greenhouse gas emissions, coupled with a shift from a cooling La Nina to warming El Nino event. Several other factors, changes in the solar cycle and a massive volcanic eruption, may have also played a role, it added.

Temperatures are just a small part of a much bigger picture.

The report said ocean temperatures in 2024 reached their highest level in 65 years. Meanwhile, the global mean sea level hit its highest point since satellite records began in 1993, with the rate of increase from 2015 to 2024 twice as fast as that from 1993 to 2002.

“Data for 2024 show that our oceans continued to warm, and sea levels continued to rise. The frozen parts of Earth's surface, known as the cryosphere, are melting at an alarming rate: glaciers continue to retreat, and Antarctic sea ice reached its second-lowest extent ever recorded. Meanwhile, extreme weather continues to have devastating consequences around the world,” Saulo said.

All this means more human lives are at greater risk.

According to the report, tropical cyclones, floods, droughts and other hazards in 2024 led to the highest number of newly displaced people recorded in the past 16 years, and contributed to worsening food crises.

“In response, WMO and the global community are intensifying efforts to strengthen early warning systems and climate services to help decision-makers and society at large be more resilient to extreme weather and climate. We are making progress but need to go further and need to go faster,” Saulo said.