2024 to Become a Record-Breaking Year as Hottest Year in History

2024 is expected to surpass the record set in 2023 and become the hottest year in the entire history of meteorological observations due to global warming and the natural phenomenon of El Niño. This information was reported by Bloomberg and is relayed by RIA Novosti.

In 2023, the average temperature was about 1.4 degrees Celsius higher than during the pre-industrial era (before the 18th century). According to preliminary estimates from experts, this year the temperature will rise by 1.3 to 1.6 degrees.

"First and foremost, climate change is to blame. The burning of fossil fuels increases the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which leads to a rise in the average global temperature," the article explains.

Researchers also identify El Niño as another significant cause of the current situation, describing it as a natural phenomenon characterized by abnormally high surface water temperatures in the equatorial part of the Pacific Ocean. As reported by Ula Hida, an expert from a non-profit ocean modeling organization, the longer El Niño persists, the more the Pacific Ocean and the air above it will warm.

Michael McFadden, a specialist from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, clarified that El Niño takes several months to reach its peak, which can delay the warming of the Pacific Ocean and the rise in surface temperature on Earth. "In other words, the second year of El Niño will be hotter than the first," Bloomberg points out.