Global temperatures smashed records as El Niño stacked fresh heat on top of decades of greenhouse warming.
Story Snapshot
- 2024 set a new global heat record, topping 2023 and crossing 1.5°C for the year.
- World Meteorological Organization says El Niño added heat, but greenhouse gases remain the main driver.
- NASA reports ocean warmth plus long-term warming pushed 2023–2024 to record highs.
- January 2025 stayed record hot even as La Niña began, showing the strong background trend.
What Drove The Heat: A One-Two Punch
Scientists point to a simple stack: a powerful El Niño on top of rising greenhouse gases. The World Meteorological Organization reported the 2023–2024 El Niño ranked among the top five strongest and helped push temperatures to new highs, while calling greenhouse gases the main culprit behind the records.
Its State of the Global Climate 2024 review makes the same point, stating record greenhouse gas levels plus El Niño drove the year’s heat. That framing matches long-standing science and common sense.
New analyses show how far the thermometer jumped. A Nature study finds 2024 reached about 1.55 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels and marked the first year entirely beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius, a symbolic and scientific line the world watches closely.
NASA researchers also traced the surge to warm oceans riding on a long-term greenhouse trend, which made May 2023 to May 2024 the hottest 12 months in their record. Numbers like these demand clarity, not spin.
How El Niño Amplifies, But Does Not Lead
El Niño warms the tropical Pacific and nudges the global average upward for a year or two. Agencies have long said this bump is temporary.
The World Meteorological Organization’s update states El Niño contributed to the records, but the trapped heat from human-made gases is the ongoing force.
Carbon Brief’s past review of 2015 placed El Niño’s boost at a modest share of that record year, with most heat from greenhouse gases, a guidepost that still holds for today’s events.
The durability of the heat proves the point. If El Niño alone ran the show, temperatures would ease when it fades. Yet the World Meteorological Organization reported January 2025 as the warmest January on record even as La Niña, which usually cools, started to form.
That result fits a world warming at roughly two tenths of a degree Celsius per decade, where swings ride on a rising baseline. Short-term waves matter. The tide sets the stakes.
Global temperatures are once again reaching new records as potentially historic El Niño conditions continue to unfold, according to a study released Tuesday. https://t.co/zGYvyUrkPZ
— ABC 7 Chicago (@ABC7Chicago) September 10, 2026
Oceans, Extremes, And The New Normal
Marine heat showed how fast extra warmth spreads. Europe’s Copernicus data, reported by major outlets, found record average sea surface temperatures outside the poles, with heat fueled by human-caused warming and the growing El Niño signal.
Hotter oceans load the dice for stronger rain, harsher droughts, coral stress, and energy-sapping heat waves on land. The World Meteorological Organization’s 2024 climate report ties the dots between the ocean spike, El Niño, and persistent greenhouse gases that keep trapping heat.
For policy makers, the lesson is practical. Plan for the baseline first, then the bump. The baseline is the steady rise from greenhouse gases.
The bump is El Niño’s kick, which agencies can track months ahead. That mix calls for hardened grids, better water storage, and cooling centers before the next spike, not after.
What To Watch Next
Two signposts will shape the near term. First, how quickly global temperatures respond as El Niño fades and La Niña builds. If heat stays elevated, that underscores the strength of the background warming. Second, how ocean temperatures evolve into next summer.
Persistent marine heat would mean longer heat waves and more costly storms. Agencies will keep updating the record. The World Meteorological Organization, NASA, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provide clear, public data to track these trends.
Sources:
abcnews.com, euronews.com, the-innovation.org, public.wmo.int, wmo.int, ncei.noaa.gov, noaa.gov
