Climate crisis is entering ‘critical and unprecedented new phase’

The Earth is entering a “critical and unprecedented new phase” of the climate crisis, an international coalition of scientists warned ahead of the COP29 summit in Azerbaijan next month.

The annual report found that 25 of the 35 planetary vital signs used to track climate change have reached record extremes: Earth’s average surface temperature is at an all-time high, with 2024 expected to be one of the hottest years ever recorded.

The report comes as the US braces for Hurricane Milton, a potentially catastrophic storm expected to make landfall in Florida this week. Ocean temperatures, another vital sign measured in the report, are also at record highs, making such once-in-a-century storms increasingly likely.

“Ecological overshoot, taking more than the planet can safely give, has pushed the planet into climatic conditions more threatening than anything witnessed even by our prehistoric relatives,” said William Ripple, a professor at Oregon State University and one of the report’s authors, adding that it is “imperative” that progress is made at the COP29 talks.