New Orleans marks 3rd hottest year on record
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It may be chilly in New Orleans now, but last year was the metro's third hottest year on record.
Why it matters: The year's record hot temperatures include periods of extreme heat, which is a deadly hazard, and demonstrate how long-term, human-caused climate change is playing out in communities.
The big picture: New Orleans' high temperature averaged 80.7°F last year, up 3.1° from normal over the course of 45 years of record-keeping, according to NOAA.
- Shreveport had its hottest year on record, while Slidell and Baton Rouge had their second hottest on record.
Zoom out: Many communities across the U.S. saw record heat in 2024, crushing milestones set in 2023.
- Phoenix, for example, had an average high temperature for the year of 90.5°F.
- The city set a record for the most days with highs that reached at or above 110°F, with 70 such occurrences, smashing the previous record of 55 days.
State of play: Last year was Earth's warmest on record, eclipsing 2023's record, the Copernicus Climate Change Service says.
- While climate scientists don't put too much stock into an individual year's record, the long-term trend is toward more rapid warming.
- It is not entirely clear why 2024 was so hot and what it portends. Go deeper.
The bottom line: Last year saw many extreme weather and climate events that caused widespread damage and reverberated throughout the economy.
- The year demonstrated how global warming is loading the dice in favor of more destructive outcomes, from Hurricane Helene to a period during the summer when global average temperatures spiked to unheard-of levels.