2024 may be even hotter than the "gobsmackingly" hot 2023, which featured extreme — and often deadly — weather and climate events around the globe.
Why it matters: A hotter 2024 would lend credence to the hypothesis that global warming is accelerating.
"If things follow the normal pattern, 2024 should be a bit hotter than 2023. But 'the normal pattern' may not exist anymore," said Andrew Dessler, a climate scientist at Texas A&M University.
"In any event, it's certainly going to be one of the hottest years in the record."
The big picture: The combination of human-caused global warming from the burning of fossil fuels for energy, along with deforestation, plus other factors like a naturally occurring El Niño, have boosted 2023's record warmth, stunning many in the scientific community.
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