Climate change - 2024 hottest year on record, and first to be 1.5-degrees C above preindustrial period

 Well, the goal of the Paris Climate Accords (signed in 2016) was to prevent global temperatures from going above 1.5-degrees Celcius, but in 2024 the world has exceeded that level for the first time. If you are into climate science and the data behind all this, check out the 2024 Climate Summary published by Copernicus Climate Change Service. 

The last 10 years have been the 10 hottest years on record, which goes back some 150 years or so. Another telling set of measurements has been surface temperatures of our oceans, which have been rising annually, as well (note the attached graph, and how the last two years really stand out). Ocean temps are important because the hotter the water gets, the more evaporation occurs, and this fuels storms such as hurricanes/cyclones around the world. This is why storms are more powerful, on average, than in the past. 

I personally worry about losing another 4 years of any progress regarding climate change, as the new administration's energy policy goes back to an old, archaic and dangerous chant of "Drill, drill, drill." Without US leadership, it is more unlikely the rest of the world will be able to do much. But let's keep reminding the world climate change is real, it is already causing major problems in every region of the world and costing hundreds of billions of dollars in damage and human life (as I write this, the Los Angeles area is burning, with loss of life and tens of billions of dollars in losses, for example)