91av

Environment

2024 may have been the rainiest – as well as hottest – year on record

Global average precipitation in 2024 may have broken the previous record set in 1998, as rising temperatures boosted the amount of moisture in the atmosphere

By James Dinneen

17 January 2025

Flooding in Atlanta, Georgia, in September 2024

S LESSER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

In 2024, Earth received about 2.9 millimetres of rain per day. That may not sound like much, but it could represent a new record amount of precipitation for the planet.

Last year’s global average precipitation was about 3 per cent greater than the average since records began in 1983, and it just surpasses the previous record, set in 1998. The 2.9-millimetre number, based on preliminary compiled by researchers at the Global Precipitation Climatology Project, may still change slightly as the data is finalised. But if it holds, it…

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox! We'll also keep you up to date with 91av events and special offers.

Sign up

To continue reading, today with our introductory offers

or

Existing subscribers

Sign in to your account
Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop