In 2024 we emitted more greenhouse gases into our atmosphere in a single year than any year before it. The increase from 2023 was small—0.8 percent—but still, global emissions continue to rise, despite science telling us we should have bent the global emissions’ curve downward by 2020.
The emissions in our atmosphere are at work, heating the planet, acidifying our oceans, and leading to climate-fueled disasters: heat waves, fires, flooding, droughts, and storms. For some climate impacts, devastation can be followed by the painstaking work of recovery. But for many natural systems, like our tropical coral reefs, the stress we are putting on them