2024 was the world’s warmest year on record

Antarctic sea ice coverage second lowest on record, behind 2023
SEPTEMBER 29, 2024. Gentoo penguins and seals make their return to Palmer Station in Antarctica. Antarctic sea ice coverage in 2024 was the second lowest on record.

SEPTEMBER 29, 2024. Gentoo penguins and seals make their return to Palmer Station in Antarctica. Antarctic sea ice coverage in 2024 was the second lowest on record. (Image credit: Evan Quinter/ U.S. National Science Foundation/Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

It’s official: 2024 was the planet’s warmest year on record, according to an analysis by scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).

Along with historic heat, Antarctic sea ice coverage dropped to its second-lowest extent (coverage) on record.

Below are highlights from NOAA’s 2024 annual global climate report:

A world map plotted with color blocks depicting percentiles of global average land and ocean temperatures for the full year 2024. Color blocks depict increasing warmth, from dark blue (record-coldest area) to dark red (record-warmest area) and spanning areas in between that were "much cooler than average" through "much warmer than average."
A world map plotted with color blocks depicting percentiles of global average land and ocean temperatures for the full year 2024. Color blocks depict increasing warmth, from dark blue (record-coldest area) to dark red (record-warmest area) and spanning areas in between that were "much cooler than average" through "much warmer than average." (Image credit: NOAA/NCEI)
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Climate by the numbers

Earth’s average land and ocean surface temperature in 2024 was 2.32 degrees F (1.29 degrees C) above the 20th-century average — the highest global temperature among all years in NOAA’s 1850-2024 climate record. It was 0.18 of a degree F (0.10 of a degree C) warmer than 2023, which was previously the warmest year on record. 

Regionally, Africa, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America (tied with 2023) had their warmest year on record. Asia and the Arctic had their second-warmest year on record.

The planet’s 10 warmest years since 1850 have all occurred in the past decade. In 2024, global temperature exceeded the pre-industrial (1850–1900) average by 2.63 degrees F (1.46 degrees C).

Map of global average surface temperature in 2024 compared to the 1991-2020 average, with places that were warmer than average colored red, and places that were cooler than average colored blue. The bars on the graph shows global temperatures compared to the 20th-century average each year from 2024 (right) back to 1976 (left) — the last year the world was cooler than average. Based on data from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information. 
Map of global average surface temperature in 2024 compared to the 1991-2020 average, with places that were warmer than average colored red, and places that were cooler than average colored blue. The bars on the graph shows global temperatures compared to the 20th-century average each year from 2024 (right) back to 1976 (left) — the last year the world was cooler than average. Based on data from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information.  (Image credit: NOAA Climate.gov, using NOAA NCEI data)
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2024 as ranked by other scientific organizations

Other scientific organizations, including NASA, the Copernicus Climate Change Service and the UK Met Office have conducted separate but similar analyses that also rank 2024 as the warmest year on record.

An annotated map of the world plotted with the year's most significant climate events. See the story below as well as the report summary from NOAA NCEI at http://bit.ly/Global202413.
An annotated map of the world plotted with the year's most significant climate events. See the story below as well as the report summary from NOAA NCEI at http://bit.ly/Global202413. (Image credit: NOAA/NCEI)
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Other notable climate findings and events

  • Antarctic sea ice ran near record lows: Antarctic sea ice extent (coverage) averaged 4.00 million square miles in 2024, second lowest on record. The maximum extent in September was 6.59 million square miles, which ranked second lowest, and the minimum extent in February was 830,000 square miles, which also ranked second lowest. Arctic sea ice extent averaged 4.03 million square miles in 2024, seventh lowest on record. The maximum extent in March was 5.74 million square miles, which ranked 15th lowest, while the minimum extent in September was 1.69 million square miles, which ranked sixth lowest.
  • Upper ocean heat content set record high: The 2024 upper ocean heat content, which is the amount of heat stored in the upper 2,000 meters of the ocean, was the highest on record. Ocean heat content is a key climate indicator because the ocean stores 90% of the excess heat in the Earth system. The indicator has been tracked globally since 1958, and the five highest values have all occurred in the last five years.
  • Global tropical cyclone activity was near average: Eighty-five named storms occurred across the globe in 2024, which was near the 1991–2020 average of 88. Forty-two of those reached tropical cyclone strength (sustained winds of 74 mph or higher), and 23 reached major tropical cyclone strength (sustained winds of 111 mph or higher). These also included four storms that reached Category 5 (sustained winds of 157 mph or higher) on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. The global accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) was about 21% below the 1991–2020 average.

More: Access NOAA NCEI’s year-end 2024 global climate report and images.

 

Media contact

John Bateman, nesdis.pa@noaa.gov, (202) 424-0929

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