- Jaiswal slams majestic 161 but Australia fight back in Perth
- Edinburgh's alternative tour guides show 'more real' side of city
- IPL teams set to splash the cash at 'mega-auction' in Saudi Arabia
- Olympics in India a 'dream' facing many hurdles
- Wounded Bangladesh protesters receive robotic helping hand
- Majestic Jaiswal 141 not out as India pile pain on Australia
- Giannis, Lillard lead Bucks over Hornets as Spurs beat Warriors
- Juan Mata agent slammed as 'cowardly' by angry A-League coach
- Marta inspires Orlando Pride to NWSL title
- Palestinian pottery sees revival in war-ravaged Gaza
- Main points of the $300 billion climate deal
- Robertson wants policy change for overseas-based All Blacks
- Israel retreat helps rescuers heal from October 7 attack
- Afghan women turn to entrepreneurship under Taliban
- Mounting economic costs of India's killer smog
- At climate talks, painstaking diplomacy and then anger
- Uruguayans head to polls with left hoping for comeback
- Trump's mass deportation plan could end up hurting economic growth
- Iran director in exile says 'bittersweet' to rep Germany at Oscars
- US consumers to bargain hunt in annual 'Black Friday' spree
- Cheers, angst as US nuclear plant Three Mile Island to reopen
- Scientists seek miracle pill to stop methane cow burps
- Australia ditches plans to fine tech giants for misinformation
- Developing nations slam 'paltry' $300 bn climate deal
- Red Bulls win 'Hudson River derby' to reach conference final
- Neuville wins world title after Tanak crashes at Rally Japan
- Neuville wins world rally title after Tanak crashes in Japan
- Colapinto cleared for Las Vegas GP despite heavy crash
- 'Smiling One' Amorim vows he has ruthless streak Man Utd need
- Marseille down Lens to stay in touch with Ligue 1 leaders, Lyon draw
- New Zealand beat 'proud' Italy in Cane's Test farewell
- Barca collapse in Celta draw without Yamal, Simeone hits milestone
- Thailand's Jeeno equals Yin for lead at LPGA Tour Championship
- New Zealand beat Italy in Cane's Test farewell
- Marseille down Lens to stay in touch with Ligue 1 leaders, Lyon held to draw
- Liga leaders Barca suffer late collapse in Celta draw
- Retegui fires Atalanta top of Serie A ahead of Inter
- Greaves hits maiden Test century as West Indies dominate Bangladesh
- Venezuela opposition calls for mass anti-Maduro protest on Dec. 1
- 'Fragile' Man City in uncharted territory, admits Guardiola
- Erasmus hails Springbok strength in depth after thrashing Wales
- Postecoglou calls for consistent Spurs after Man City rout
- 'We've never lived this situation' admits Guardiola
- Lebanon says more than 55 killed in Israeli strikes
- 'We've never lived this situation' admits Guardiola as Man City lose five in a row
- Under-fire Gatland 'motivated' to continue as Wales coach
- South Africa send Wales crashing to 87-year low in Test rout
- Spurs condemn Man City to fifth straight defeat as Arsenal win
- Defeated Leipzig lose more ground on Bayern, Frankfurt go second
- South Africa put Wales to the sword to wrap up season
2024 'virtually certain' to be hottest year on record: EU monitor
This year is "virtually certain" to be the hottest in recorded history with warming above 1.5C, EU climate monitor Copernicus said Thursday, days before nations are due to gather for crunch UN climate talks.
The European agency said the world was passing a "new milestone" of temperature records that should serve to accelerate action to cut planet-heating emissions at the UN negotiations in Azerbaijan next week.
Last month, marked by deadly flooding in Spain and Hurricane Milton in the United States, was the second hottest October on record, with average global temperatures second only to the same period in 2023.
Copernicus said 2024 would likely be more than 1.55 degrees Celsius above the 1850-1900 average -- the period before the industrial-scale burning of fossil fuels.
This does not amount to a breach of the Paris deal, which strives to limit global warming to below 2C and preferably 1.5C, because that is measured over decades and not individual years.
"It is now virtually certain that 2024 will be the warmest year on record and the first year of more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels," said Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Deputy Director Samantha Burgess.
"This marks a new milestone in global temperature records and should serve as a catalyst to raise ambition for the upcoming Climate Change Conference, COP29."
- Wild weather -
The UN climate negotiations in Azerbaijan, which will set the stage for a new round of crucial carbon-cutting targets, will take place in the wake of the United States election victory by Donald Trump.
Trump, a climate change denier, pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement during his first presidency -- and while his successor Joe Biden took the United States back in, he has threatened to do so again.
Meanwhile, average global temperatures have reached new peaks, as have concentrations of planet-heating gases in the atmosphere.
Scientists say the safer 1.5C limit is rapidly slipping out of reach, while stressing that every tenth of a degree of temperature rise heralds progressively more damaging impacts.
Last month the UN said the current pace of climate action would result in a catastrophic 3.1C of warming this century, while all current climate pledges taken in full would still amount to a devastating 2.6C temperature rise.
Global warming is not just about rising temperatures, but the knock-on effect of all the extra heat in the atmosphere and seas.
Warmer air can hold more water vapour, and warmer oceans mean greater evaporation, resulting in more intense downpours and storms.
In a month of weather extremes, October saw above-average rainfall across swathes of Europe, as well as parts of China, the US, Brazil and Australia, Copernicus said.
The US is also experiencing ongoing drought, which affected record numbers of people, the EU monitor added.
Copernicus said average sea surface temperatures in the area it monitors were the second highest on record for the month of October.
C3S uses billions of measurements from satellites, ships, aircraft and weather stations to aid its calculations.
Copernicus records go back to 1940 but other sources of climate data such as ice cores, tree rings and coral skeletons allow scientists to expand their conclusions using evidence from much deeper in the past.
Climate scientists say the period being lived through right now is likely the warmest the earth has been for the last 100,000 years, back at the start of the last Ice Age.
G.Schulte--BTB