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Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels have hit a record high in 2024, and there's still no sign that they've peaked, scientists reported. The researchers found that humans dumped 41.2 billion tons (37.
4 billion metric tons) of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2024, a 0.8% increase from 2023. When added to the emissions created by land-use changes, such as deforestation, a total of 45.
8 billion tons (41.6 billion metric tons) of carbon dioxide was emitted in 2024. At this rate, the researchers estimate there's a 50% chance that global warming will consistently exceed the 1.
5 Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warming target set by the Paris Agreement within roughly six years. They published their findings Nov.
13 in the journal Earth Systems Science Data. "The impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly dramatic, yet we still see no sign that burning of fossil fuels has peaked," study lead author Pierre Friedlingstein , a professor of climate science at Exeter University in the U.K.
, said in a statement . "Time is running out to meet the Paris Agreement goals — and world leaders meeting at COP29 must bring about rapid and deep cuts to fossil fuel emissions to give us a chance of staying well below 2°C warming..
. Ben Turner.
