Nature, 6 January 2025

Is global warming speeding up?

Earth shattered heat records in 2023 and 2024, with temperatures rising further than expected on the basis of previous trends and modelling. A mysterious reduction in cloud cover, combined with an El Niño weather pattern, could be responsible for temperature increases in 2023.

However, scientists expected temperatures would decrease again in June 2024 when the El Niño subsided, which didn’t happen. Now they are racing to work out whether this sudden spike is just a blip in the climate data, or an early indicator that the planet is heating up at a faster pace than they thought. (Nature Briefing)

Earth shattered heat records in 2023 and 2024: is global warming speeding up?

Nature examines whether the temperature spike is a blip or an enduring — and concerning — trend.