Earth Day 2025 - Quiz Questions, Facts & Much More

Our Progress over the Last 12 Months

In the last 12 months, our customers have:

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Positive News about Climate Change and our Planet in 2024

Climate Finance and Investments

• Surge in Climate Finance: Global investments in climate solutions exceeded $1 trillion for the first time, with significant funding directed toward developing countries to support renewable energy projects and climate resilience.
• Green Bonds Boom: Issuance of green bonds doubled in 2024, helping finance sustainable infrastructure and clean energy projects across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Environmental Restoration

• Ocean Cleanup Success: Large-scale ocean cleanup initiatives removed thousands of tons of plastic waste from key marine ecosystems, including the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
• Wetlands Restoration: Restoration projects in Southeast Asia and Africa rehabilitated over 500,000 hectares of wetlands, improving biodiversity and natural carbon sequestration.
• Australia has recorded 40% less plastic pollution washing up on its shores in the last decade.

Nature and Conservation

• Deforestation in the Amazon dropped by 50% in 2023 compared to the previous year, following Brazil’s pledge to end deforestation by 2030, signalling progress in protecting this vital ecosystem.
• Coal power plants in Europe are being repurposed as clean energy hubs, facilitating the transition to renewables. The UK and Finland already have no coal being used for energy production.

Renewable Energy Growth

• Global renewable electricity reached a record high, accounting for 30% of the world’s electricity, with the EU surpassing 50% renewables in the first half of the year. Portugal ran entirely on renewables for six consecutive days, and Costa Rica continued its leadership with hydropower
• Innovations included next-generation perovskite solar panels, floating wind farms, and advances in green hydrogen production, making renewable energy more efficient and scalable.

Key Climate Change Facts from 2024

Record-Breaking Global Temperatures

• 2024 was unfortunately our hottest year ever recorded, with global average surface temperatures of 1.5–1.6°C above pre-industrial levels (1850–1900).
• The global average temperature in 2024 was 15.10°C, 0.72°C warmer than the 1991–2020 average and 1.60°C warmer than the pre-industrial baseline.
• This marks the first calendar year where the global temperature sadly exceeded the 1.5°C threshold set by the Paris Agreement in 2016, though sustained multi-year averages are required to officially declare the target breached.

Greenhouse Gas Concentrations at Record Highs

• Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels reached an average of 421.73–422.1 parts per million (ppm) in 2024, the highest in at least 2 million years and over 50% higher than pre-industrial levels.
• Methane concentrations also hit record highs, at approximately 1,897 parts per billion (ppb), the highest in at least 800,000 years.

Extreme Weather and Environmental Impacts

• 2024 saw 41 additional days of dangerous heat globally, severely impacting human health and ecosystems.
• Extreme events—including floods, heatwaves, wildfires, and marine heatwaves—were widespread, causing significant economic and human losses.
• Ocean heat content reached new highs, with sea surface temperatures breaking records across nearly one-third of the world’s non-polar oceans, contributing to a global coral bleaching event.
• Antarctic sea ice was at its second-lowest extent on record, and glacier loss accelerated.

Regional and Long-Term Trends

• The past decade (2015–2024) contains the ten hottest years ever recorded, underscoring the accelerating pace of climate change.
• In 2024, 91% of the globe experienced above-average temperatures, with more than half of land areas exceeding the 1991–2020 average by over 1°C.
• Northern Canada, parts of the Atlantic, Indian, and Western Pacific Oceans, and European seas saw some of the largest temperature anomalies.

Deforestation and Nature-Based Solutions

• Deforestation accounts for up to 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions, surpassing emissions from all passenger vehicles worldwide.
• Nature-based solutions, such as protecting and restoring tropical forests, could provide at least a third of the mitigation needed to prevent the worst climate scenarios, yet they receive only 3% of climate funding.

Earth Day Quiz on Climate in 2024