World Meteorological Organization: "This Year Likely to Be the Hottest Year in History"

Revealed at COP29 Starting November 11

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has forecasted that this year is likely to be the hottest year on record for the Earth.

City Heatwave. Yonhap News

On the 8th (local time), WMO announced that it will reveal this forecast along with climate observation data at the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP29), which will be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, starting from the 11th.

The analysis of Earth's surface temperature was conducted using data from January to September of this year, and various observational data such as sea surface temperature and sea ice conditions will also be presented at COP29.

WMO explained that the global average temperature from January to September this year has recorded a higher level compared to the same period last year. Although changes in the remaining three months will affect the annual average temperature, considering the trend over the nine months, WMO expects a high possibility of breaking last year's record.

Last year, Earth's surface temperature was found to be 1.45 degrees Celsius (±0.12 degrees margin of error) higher than the average from 1850 to 1900, which is considered the pre-industrial period.

The European Union (EU) climate change monitoring agency Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), which measures data alongside WMO, observed that last year's global average temperature was 14.98 degrees Celsius. This was the highest figure ever recorded since observations began.

WMO analyzes that human-induced climate change, specifically the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trapping heat, has had a significant impact on creating the trend of rising global temperatures.