The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has released its State of the Climate Report for 2024, and like most similar reports in recent times, the findings don't look good.
Australian experts have told the AusSMC of their frustration as the report was released this week, with Professor Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick from the Australian National University saying "I think I can speak on behalf of all climate scientists when I say that none of us are surprised by this report."
"Dismayed? Yes. Exasperated? Disappointed? Concerned? Worried? Yes to all these too. But we are not surprised because we have been warning of these changes for decades now," Prof Perkins-Kirkpatrick said.
Key takeaways from the report include temperature confirming 2024 was the hottest year on record globally and the first calendar year to likely be over 1.5C warmer than pre-industrial temperatures. Every year for the past decade has also been one of the ten warmest years on record.
The rate of sea level rise has doubled since measurements began, record losses of Arctic ice, Antarctic ice and glacier mass have all occurred in recent years and atmospheric carbon dioxide levels are probably the highest they've been in about 800,000 years.
"Get ready for a '1.5 world'! The Paris Agreement has fallen," was the takeaway from Dr Paul Read from the University of Technology Sydney.
"The impact is obvious and increasing, but the actual steps that countries like Australia need to take devolve to our geopolitical situation, our technology, and our political will to acquit a moral duty to our children as we head into the next election," Dr Read said.
"A recent report by Save the Children says your average five-year-old now faces a future with seven times more heatwaves, triple the floods, droughts and crop failures, double the wildfires."
Prof Perkins-Kirkpatrick said observations throughout 2024 showed that it would be the hottest year on record, "beating the previous hottest year set all the way back in….2023."
"We have long reached a point where reaching net zero emissions is no longer enough. While it is absolutely imperative, 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 said.
"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."
Achieving net zero emissions remains critical to the climate response, and Professor Martina Linnenluecke from the University of Technology Sydney said the focus must shift from warning the world's emitters to holding them accountable.
"Governments must act decisively by implementing carbon pricing that reflects the true cost of emissions, end fossil fuel subsidies and support the rapid transition to a low-carbon economy. Policy decisions need to prioritise stricter emissions regulations and climate-adapted infrastructure. Insurers are already increasing premiums and withdrawing from high-risk regions, which is signalling that climate risks are no longer hypothetical but economic realities," Prof Linneluecke said.
The later net zero is achieved, the more damage will be done, with the WMO report predicting ocean warming will continue for the rest of the 21st Century even if the world is relatively successful at reducing emissions.
Dr Linden Ashcroft from the University of Melbourne said it was hard to imagine what any climate researcher could say to encourage this decarbonisation that hasn't been said "a thousand times before".
"Yes, we have now crossed even more devastating and globally significant thresholds. Yes, these records are breaking because of human-induced climate change. No, there is no other way to explain it. Yes, we can avoid the worst impacts of climate change but we all have to act, and we have to act right now. Yes, we are scared too," Dr Ashcroft said.
"I’ve been providing comments like these for my entire career, and honestly, I’m not quite sure what to do next. Scream these findings from the tops of buildings? Write my comments in capitals? Saying all this while dancing on TikTok? I don’t know. But unless we see real climate leadership from governments and businesses, I will save this response and send it through again next year."
You can read the full Expert Reaction here
This article originally appeared in Science Deadline, a weekly newsletter from the AusSMC. You are free to republish this story, in full, with appropriate credit.
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