By noaa.gov.
Antarctic sea ice coverage is the second lowest on record, behind 2023.
It’s official: 2024 was the planet’s warmest year on record, according to an analysis by scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI).
Along with historic heat, Antarctic sea ice coverage dropped to its second-lowest extent (coverage) on record.
Below are highlights from NOAA’s 2024 annual global climate report:

Climate by the numbers
Earth’s average land and ocean surface temperature in 2024 was 2.32 degrees F (1.29 degrees C) above the 20th-century average — the highest global temperature among all years in NOAA’s 1850-2024 climate record. It was 0.18 of a degree F (0.10 of a degree C) warmer than 2023, which was previously the warmest year on record.
Regionally, Africa, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America (tied with 2023) had their warmest year on record. Asia and the Arctic had their second-warmest year on record.
The planet’s 10 warmest years since 1850 have all occurred in the past decade. In 2024, global temperature exceeded the pre-industrial (1850–1900) average by 2.63 degrees F (1.46 degrees C).
2024 as ranked by other scientific organizations
Other scientific organizations, including NASA, the Copernicus Climate Change Serviceoffsite link and the UK Met Office have conducted separate but similar analyses that also rank 2024 as the warmest year on record.

Other notable climate findings and events
- Antarctic sea ice ran near record lows: Antarctic sea ice extent (coverage) averaged 4.00 million square miles in 2024, second lowest on record. The maximum extent in September was 6.59 million square miles, which ranked second lowest, and the minimum extent in February was 830,000 square miles, which also ranked second lowest. Arctic sea ice extent averaged 4.03 million square miles in 2024, seventh lowest on record. The maximum extent in March was 5.74 million square miles, which ranked 15th lowest, while the minimum extent in September was 1.69 million square miles, which ranked sixth lowest.
read more at noaa.gov.
