The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warns that this year's record-breaking heat is likely to continue in 2025, further accelerating climate change and leading to catastrophic consequences, unless urgent action is taken to curb the "human activities" behind this looming disaster. According to the United Nations weather agency, 2024 is set to be the hottest year on record, "capping a decade of unprecedented heat fueled by human activities."
“Today I can officially report that we have just endured a decade of deadly heat. The top ten hottest years on record have happened in the last ten years, including 2024,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in his New Year's message.
“This is climate breakdown — in real time. We must exit this road to ruin — and we have no time to lose. In 2025, countries must put the world on a safer path by dramatically slashing emissions, and supporting the transition to a renewable future,” he said.
The WMO reports that greenhouse gas levels continue to rise to record highs, locking in even more heat for the future. The agency stresses the need for greater international cooperation to address extreme heat risks "as global temperatures rise, and extreme heat events become more frequent and severe."
Extreme heat events are among the deadliest types of weather. Nearly 500,000 people around the world die each year from heat-related causes. And while the death toll is often underreported, thousands of deaths have been recorded this year in the world's most affected countries.
Celeste Saulo, who was appointed WMO Secretary-General in June 2023 and began her four-year term in January 2024, said on Monday that in her first year in office she "issued repeated Red Alerts about the state of the climate" warning that "every fraction of a degree of warming matters, and increases climate extremes, impacts and risks."
The WMO's State of the Climate 2024 report found that global average temperatures between January and September were 1.54 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial times, exceeding the level specified in the 2016 Paris Agreement on climate change.
This year, the UN Environment Program's Emissions Gap report warned that temperatures are likely to rise to 3.1 degrees Celsius by the end of the century unless preemptive action is taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.
“Temperatures are only part of the picture. Climate change plays out before our eyes on an almost daily basis in the form of increased occurrence and impact of extreme weather events,” Saulo said.
Extreme weather events such as devastating storms, floods, historic droughts and extreme heat are killing people, destroying livelihoods, causing hunger crises and spreading disease.
"This year we saw record-breaking rainfall and flooding events and terrible loss of life in so many countries, causing heartbreak to communities on every continent," the WMO chief said.
Tropical cyclones took a terrible human and economic toll, intense heat scorched dozens of countries with temperatures exceeding 50 degrees Celsius on several occasions, while droughts and wildfires wreaked havoc.
Tropical Cyclone Chido, which hit the French territory of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean in mid-December and then moved on to Mozambique and Malawi, had a devastating impact on the lives and livelihoods of the communities in its wake. But this cyclone is just the latest of dozens of extreme weather events that have wreaked havoc around the world this year.
Six tropical cyclones struck the Philippines in one month, affecting millions of people, causing repeated and prolonged displacements, damaged and destroyed homes, and prolonged flooding.
According to a new report by the World Weather Attribution Initiative and the nonprofit Climate Central, climate change exacerbated 26 of the 29 extreme weather events studied, " that killed at least 3,700 people and displaced millions."
"Climate change added 41 days of dangerous heat in 2024, harming human health and ecosystems," it said.
According to the analysis, the countries that experienced the highest number of dangerous heat days were overwhelmingly small island states and developing countries, which are highly vulnerable and considered to be on the front lines of climate change.
However, extreme weather events have affected all regions of the world. This year's record-breaking temperatures caused relentless heat waves, droughts, wildfires, storms and floods. Many of the extreme events that occurred in early 2024 were influenced by the effects of the climate pattern El Niño.
Heavy rains caused severe flooding and mudslides in South America. Massive rainfall also led to deadly flash floods in Europe, particularly in Spain, and caused historic flooding in West and Central Africa, killing more than 1,500 people there. East Africa also experienced severe flooding this year.
In 2024, dozens of countries around the world were affected by torrential rains, flash floods, river floods and other large-scale flooding events that submerged large areas of land, causing devastation and affecting millions of people.
Among the countries most severely affected by the floods were many experiencing some of the world's worst humanitarian crises, including Sudan, Chad, Niger, South Sudan, Myanmar and Yemen. Some of the world's most populous countries, such as Bangladesh, Nigeria and Pakistan, were also hit hard.
Several regions of the world were also affected by raging wildfires and severe droughts, causing hunger, irreparable suffering and damage, and enormous economic losses for countless millions of people.
Southern Africa faced its worst hunger crisis in decades. More than 68 million people in the region were affected by drought and other extreme weather conditions caused by El Niño and exacerbated by the climate crisis. Climate change is fueling new and ongoing humanitarian emergencies around the world.
For example, Myanmar, one of the world's largest humanitarian crises due to the ongoing war between the military junta and non-state armed groups, was also hit by extreme flooding and other climate-related disasters this year.
Climate-related disasters devastate communities, destroy food systems, and cause mass displacement. The climate crisis is also wreaking havoc on agriculture and food systems, undermining livelihoods and deepening food insecurity, hitting the most vulnerable people on the planet.
A November UN report warned that people forced to flee war, violence and persecution are increasingly finding themselves on the front lines of the global climate crisis, exposed to a deadly combination of threats but without the funding and support to adapt.
Three-quarters of the world's more than 123 million forcibly displaced people live in countries that are highly vulnerable to climate change. More than 60 million are displaced in places affected by both conflict and severe climate hazards.
In his New Year message, UN Secretary-General Guterres also made reference to those severely affected by war and inequality.
“Throughout 2024, hope has been hard to find. Wars are causing enormous pain, suffering and displacement,” Guterres said. “Inequalities and divisions are rife — fueling tensions and mistrust.”
But he stressed that “even in the darkest days, I’ve seen hope power change.”
“I see hope in activists — young and old — raising their voices for progress. I see hope in the humanitarian heroes overcoming enormous obstacles to support the most vulnerable people,” Guterres said
“I see hope in developing countries fighting for financial and climate justice. I see hope in the scientists and innovators breaking new ground for humanity.”
In response to the UN Secretary-General's call to action on extreme heat, a group of experts from 15 international organizations, 12 countries, and several leading academic and NGO partners met at WMO headquarters earlier this month to advance a coordinated framework for tackling this growing threat.
The plan is one of many WMO initiatives aimed at protecting public health through improved climate services and early warnings.
As the UN weather agency prepares to celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2025, WMO officials say they will continue to coordinate global efforts to observe and monitor the state of the climate and support international efforts "to mitigate and adapt to climate change."
"Our message will be that if we want a safer planet, we must act now," WMO chief Saulo said. "It is our responsibility. It is a common responsibility, a global responsibility."
WMO will publish the consolidated global temperature figure for 2024 in January and its full State of the Global Climate 2024 report in March 2025.
Some information for this report provided by VOA.
Further information
Full text: Report: When risks become reality: Extreme weather in 2024, World Weather Attribution (WWA), Climate Central, report, published December 30, 2024
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