Climate and environment updates: US generated record solar and wind energy in 2024

The Trump administration may no longer be supporting renewable energy, but in 2024, the United States made significant strides with its energy source shift.

Last year, the U.S. generated a record amount of energy from solar and wind sources, enough to power the equivalent of more than 70 million average American homes, according to a new analysis of U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) data by Climate Central, a nonprofit climate research group.

In 2024, 756,621 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity came from solar and wind, triple the amount generated a decade ago. Solar and wind combined accounted for about 17% of the country’s electricity generation.

In the United States, solar is now the fastest-growing source of electricity, with increases in solar generation reported across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., over the past decade, according to the analysis. California was the biggest solar energy producer in 2024, with Texas and Florida rounding out the top 3. Between 2023 and 2024, U.S. solar generation increased 27%.

Currently, 42 states produce electricity from wind, with 39 reporting an increase in wind generation over the past decade. Texas is the largest wind energy producer, accounting for about 28% of all wind generation in the United States last year. The next largest wind energy-producing state is Iowa. While the total amount of wind generation is significantly lower than in Texas, wind accounts for nearly two-thirds of all the electricity produced in the Hawkeye state.

-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck

While frequent arctic blasts impacted much of the United States, meteorological winter ended up warmer than average, according to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Across the contiguous United States, meteorological winter, which runs from Dec. 1 through the end of February, had an average temperature of 34.1 degrees Fahrenheit, running 1.9 degrees above average and ranking in the warmest third of NOAA’s historical record. Winter is now the fastest warming season for most of the country,

Winter precipitation across the Lower 48 was below average, making it the driest third of NOAA’s historical record. According to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor report released on Mar. 4, about 44.4% of the contiguous U.S. is experiencing drought conditions, an increase of about 2% since the beginning of February.

Alaska’s winter season temperature was 10 degrees Fahrenheit above the long-term average, ranking as the third-warmest in the 101 years of record for the state. The northern third of Alaska is part of the Arctic Circle, a region that is warming much faster than the global average.

To the south, Anchorage experienced its least snowiest winter on record with just 4.6 inches of snow falling. This broke the previous record set during the winter of 2015-2016 by nearly 3 inches. This year, the starting line of the world-famous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race was moved about 360 miles north, from Anchorage to Fairbanks due to a lack of snow.

While we cannot directly attribute this to human-amplified climate change, in a warming world, more precipitation will fall as rain instead of snow, according to the Fifth National Climate Assessment. And less reliable cold weather will make it increasingly difficult for the snow essential to winter activities, like the Iditarod, to stick around.

-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck

It has been a frigid start to 2025 for much of the United States. However, globally, the planet's long stretch of near-record to record-high temperatures has proved detrimental to global sea ice cover.

Global sea ice extent fell to its lowest recorded value in February, according to data analyzed by the Copernicus Climate Change Service. Last month also ranked as the third-warmest February on record for the planet.

Sea ice extent is the area of ocean covered by ice that's at least 15% frozen. Global sea ice extent combines the values of the Arctic and Antarctic polar regions. The new record occurred because both regions experienced below-average coverage simultaneously, with Arctic sea ice cover dropping to a new record low for February, according to the report.

The Arctic region is warming much faster than the global average. After acting as a carbon sink for thousands of years, the area has become a source of carbon dioxide emissions due to rapidly warming conditions and increasing wildfire activity, according to a recent report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

While last month ranked as the third-warmest on record for the planet, it registered more than 1.5 degrees Celsius warmer than the pre-industrial average (1850-1900), making it the 19th of the last 20 months to exceed the warming threshold established in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

Exceeding the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold temporarily is not seen as a failure to limit warming under the agreement since it looks at the climate average over multiple decades.

February was the first month that has not been the warmest or second-warmest on record since June 2023. A temporary decline in global temperature records was anticipated due to the current La Niña conditions in the equatorial eastern Pacific Ocean, which usually leads to a decrease in the global average temperature.

However, this pause will likely not last long as the overall long-term global average temperature trend keeps going up, fueled by human greenhouse gas emissions.

-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck

If you're a seasonal allergy sufferer, you better stock up on your meds. A new study from Climate Central found that allergy season is starting earlier, lasting longer and becoming more severe because of warming trends amplified by climate change.

Using data from NOAA, the nonprofit climate research group studied the warming trends of 198 cities from 1970 to 2024. It found that 87% now have a longer freeze-free growing season. Extended periods of above-freezing weather give plants more time to grow, which results in more allergy-inducing pollen.

Climate Central said that, on average, 172 cities had their freeze-free season increase by 20 days. According to data, cities in the Southwest and Northwest had the most significant increase in above-freezing days. Allergy season increased the most in Reno, Nevada (96 more days); Las Cruces, New Mexico (66 more days); Medford, Oregon (63 more days); and Tupelo, Mississippi, and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (both with 52 more days).

Climate change is not only increasing the length of allergy season, but it's also making it more intense, according to studies. A study in Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research found that higher levels of CO2 emissions can boost pollen production in plants, specifically ragweed and grasses. And a 2022 study in Nature Communications predicted that by the end of the century, we could experience an up to 200% increase in pollen production.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 5 children suffer from seasonal allergies in the United States.

-ABC News climate unit's Matthew Glasser