2024 was world's warmest year on record

In 2024, the global average surface temperature surged to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, making it the hottest year on record since meteorological data collection began in 1850, reported the Blue Book on Climate Change in China 2025.

The book, which was released on Friday by the climate change center of the China Meteorological Administration, said that global warming is continuing, with the decade between 2015 and 2024 being the warmest 10-year period on record.

"The record-breaking temperature is primarily a result of global warming, driven by human activities such as the release of greenhouse gases, as well as natural climate variations like El Niño," said Xiao Chan, deputy director of the National Climate Center.

"Greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activities are the main cause of rising temperatures," said Xiao.

The increasing global atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide intensifies the greenhouse effect, leading to ongoing climate warming, which triggers glacier melting, reduces sea ice, lowers Earth's reflectivity, and absorbs more solar radiation, which further exacerbates regional warming, he said.

Additionally, the El Niño event from 2023 to 2024 notably affected global temperatures. Its delayed impact, coupled with long-term global warming, made 2024 the warmest year since 1850, he added.

The report said that China has been experiencing warming at a faster rate than the global average. From 1961 to 2024, the country's average annual surface temperature rose by 0.31 C per decade, outpacing the global average. In 2024, China's average surface temperature exceeded the normal average by 1.0 C, making it the warmest year since 1901.

Furthermore, extreme high temperatures and intense rainfall events in China have been on the rise, and the average intensity of typhoons making landfall in China has strengthened since the late 1990s, In 2024, China's Climate Risk Index reached its highest level since 1961, according to the book.

Along China's coasts, the sea level has shown an accelerated rise, with an increase of 4.0 millimeters per year from 1993 to 2024. Last year, the coastal sea level in China was 96 millimeters higher than the average from 1993 to 2011, marking the highest level since 1980.

However, vegetation coverage in China is steadily increasing. From 2000 to 2024, the annual average normalized difference vegetation index in China has shown a significant upward trend, indicating a sustained greening trend, the book said.

Additionally, the regional ecological and climate conditions are improving. From 2005 to 2024, the desert area in the Shiyang river basin in Northwest China has decreased gradually. From 2000 to 2024, there has been a significant increase in the autumn index in the karst areas of Southwest China. In 2024, the area of mangrove forests along the Chinese coast reached 257 square kilometers, basically returning to the 1980 level, it said.