State of the climate report shows its time to stop hitting the snooze button

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has released its State of the Global Climate 2024 report , confirming that key climate change indicators have once again reached record levels.

The report galvanised climate scientists to again call for more urgent and coordinated global action to slow the emission of greenhouse gases.

“I think I can speak on behalf of all climate scientists when I say that none of us are surprised by this report,” says Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, a professor of climate science at the Australian National University and deputy director of communications and outreach in the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Weather of the 21st Century.

“We need to stop hitting snooze on our alarm, which is the now regularly occurring record-breaking global temperatures. It is now high time to leap to our feet and get to action. We sure as hell need to.”

The WMO says 2024 was the first calendar year to be more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial era, with a global average near-surface temperature of 1.55 ± 0.13°C above the 1850-1900 average.

“While exceeding 1.5C°C global warming for just 1 year does not mean we’ve permanently crossed this ominous threshold, it’s a sure sign that we’re well on the way, and likely earlier than we originally thought,” says Perkins-Kirkpatrick.

Using 3 different methods, the report estimates that current long-term warming, which is averaged over decades, is between 1.34-1.41°C. However, the report says that, given the uncertainty ranges, the possibility that we have already exceeded 1.5 °C cannot be ruled out.

“This therefore puts the 2°C threshold under serious threat sooner, particularly when combined with drastic changes in global politics we’re seeing played out in real time,” says Perkins-Kirkpatrick.

Not surprisingly, the report also found that atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide is now at the highest levels in the last 800,000 years.

“Overwhelmingly, our climate is warming because atmospheric carbon dioxide, a by-product of fossil fuel extraction and use, continues unabated,” says Dr Zoë Lohm, a senior research scientist at CSIRO Environment, who was not involved in the report.

“We now live in an atmosphere richer in CO₂ than it has been for at least 800,000 years. Along with record concentrations of methane and nitrous oxide, atmospheric composition is turbo-charging warming and its impacts.”

According to Perkins-Kirkpatrick, we long ago reached the point where achieving net zero emissions is no longer enough.

“A net-zero future must be coupled with appropriate and effective adaptation, as we are now locked into a significant amount of irreversible change and the associated ramifications of extreme events and their impacts,” she says.

The WMO report says in 2024, ocean heat content – which fuels tropical storms, contributes to sea-level rise, and is irreversible on timelines of hundreds- to thousands-of-years – reached its highest level in the 65-year observational record.

It says global average sea level was the highest since the start of the satellite record in 1993.

And acidification of the ocean surface continues, with the most intense regional decreases in pH occurring in the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, the northern tropical Pacific, and some regions in the Atlantic Ocean.

Like heat, changes in deep-ocean pH are irreversible on centennial to millennial time scales and have effects on habitat, biodiversity, ecosystems, and food production.

The WMO points out extreme weather events in 2024 led to the highest number of new annual displacements since 2008. The effect of various shocks, such as intensifying conflict, drought and high domestic food prices drove worsening food crises in 18 countries by mid-2024.

“This year’s WMO report makes it clear: climate change is no longer a distant threat—it is a lived reality, displacing record numbers of people, straining food systems, and disrupting lives,” says Associate Professor Michele Barnes, an expert in climate adaptation and societal transformation at The University of Sydney.

“In Australia and around the world, communities are facing growing pressures from heatwaves, floods, droughts, and cyclones. As a social scientist focused on community resilience, I see how these disruptions challenge not only our infrastructure, but the social connections and shared capacities that help people adapt.

“The good news,” she says, “is we know what works: strong social networks, local leadership, and programs that build flexibility, agency, and trust are powerful tools for navigating change.

“Investing in these ‘soft’ capacities – alongside early warning systems and climate services – can help communities not just cope, but thrive. With the right support and the right priorities, we can build a more resilient, more connected, and more hopeful future in the face of climate extremes.”