WMO: 2024 is the hottest year on record

Throughout 2024, a series of reports from the WMO community highlighted the rapid pace of climate change and its far-reaching impacts, particularly on the water cycle.

Record-breaking rainfalls were documented as well as catastrophic flooding, extreme heat waves with temperatures exceeding 50°C, devastating wildfires, and the fastest rates of glacial melting in history.  
 
As climate impacts upon every aspect of sustainable development, WMO is intensifying its disaster prevention activities.

With 2025 designated as the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation, WMO and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) aim to prioritize efforts to protect frozen regions, which are critical to regulating global temperatures and providing billions of people with fresh water.  

WMO and UNESCO are co-chairs of the Advisory Board for World Day for Glaciers 2025 (21 March) and co-coordinators of the UN-Water Task Force for World Water Day 2025 (22 March).

• Media release: WMO confirms 2024 as warmest year on record at about 1.55°C above pre-industrial level.
• World Water Day 2025 - ‘Glacier Preservation’.
• 2025 International Year of Glaciers' Preservation.