Seasonal attribution report: An analysis of how climate change boosted temperatures worldwide between December 2023 and February 2024

This publication provides an analysis of how climate change boosted temperatures worldwide between December 2023 and February 2024. Primarily by burning coal, oil, and natural gas, humans have raised the temperature of the planet. Scientists report that the average temperature in 2023 was 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than early-industrial levels (1850-1900). The purpose of this report is to document what this rise in global temperatures means for people around the world.

Key facts provided by the publication include: 

• Carbon pollution drove abnormal warmth experienced by 59% of humanity between December 2023 and February 2024. 
• Roughly 80% of Earth’s population, 6.7 billion people, were exposed to unusual warmth linked to climate change. 
• More than half — 4.8 billion people, approximately 59% — experienced at least one day of temperatures that would be virtually impossible without the influence of carbon pollution. 
• For 1.7 billion people worldwide, daily temperatures during this span — meteorological winter in the northern hemisphere — reached the maximum level 5 on Climate Central’s Climate Shift Index (CSI) at least 31 times. That equates to a month or more of abnormal warmth made at least five times more likely by the influence of climate change.