China says 2024 was its hottest year on record

BEIJING: Last year was China´s hottest on record and the past four years were its warmest ever, its weather agency said this week.

China is the leading emitter, in total volume, of the greenhouse gases driving global heating.

It aims to ensure carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions peak by 2030 and be brought to net zero by 2060.

The average national temperature for 2024 was 10.92 degrees Celsius (51.66 Fahrenheit) -- 1.03C. It was “the warmest year since the start of full records in 1961”, the China Meteorological Administration said on its news site late on Wednesday.

“The top four warmest years ever were the past four years, with all top 10 warmest years since 1961 occurring in the 21st century,” it added.

In 2024, China logged its hottest month in the history of observation in July, as well as the hottest August and the warmest autumn on record.

The United Nations said in a year-end message on Monday that 2024 was set to be the hottest year ever recorded worldwide.

India said on Wednesday 2024 was its hottest year since 1901, while Australia´s Bureau of Meteorology said on Thursday that the past year marked its second-warmest year since records began in 1910.

Germany´s weather agency said in December that 2024 was the hottest year since records began 143 years ago.

The Czech weather service CHMI said on Thursday that 2024 was “by far the hottest” in Prague since records started in 1775, beating the previous records from 2018 and 2023 by 0.5 degrees.