Extreme weather events in 2024-- the year when clear signs of human-induced climate change reached new heights and which was likely the first calendar year to be more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial era-- led to the highest number of new displacements recorded in a year since 2008, according to the UN’s World Meteorological Organization.
Among the many highs of concern, in 2024, levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere hit the highest point in the last 800,000 years, Down to Earth reported.
The WMO's report on 2024 noted that the compounded effects of various shocks, such as intensifying conflict, drought and high domestic food prices, drove worsening food crises in 18 countries globally by mid-2024. Eight countries had at least 1 million more people facing acute food insecurity in 2024 than during the 2023 annual maximum. The reduced global cereal harvest is the result of widespread drought, linked in some regions, such as Southern Africa, to the El Niño conditions, the report said.
There were numerous significant heatwaves in 2024, with many featuring prolonged periods of heat and records broken at many stations over large areas.
According to the WMO 2023 State of Climate Services report, the impacts of extreme heat and heatwaves are underestimated, and heat-related mortality could be many times higher than current estimates. During the northern hemisphere summer, areas particularly affected by heatwaves included East Asia, South-east Europe, the Mediterranean and Middle East, and the south-western United States. This followed record-breaking heat in many parts of the northern hemisphere tropics during the pre-monsoon period from late March to May, including South-east Asia, West Africa and the Sahel, and Central America, as well as northern India.
The world is already deep into the climate crisis, with the WMO report saying that for the first time, the 10 hottest years on record all occurred in the last decade. However, global carbon emissions have continued to rise, which will bring even worse impacts. Experts were particularly critical of the purge of climate scientists and programmes by the US president, Donald Trump, saying that ignoring reality left ordinary people paying the price, The Guardian reported.
The report lists 151 unprecedented extreme weather events in 2024, meaning they were worse than any ever recorded, the report said.
The Guardian quoted the WMO secretary general, Prof Celeste Saulo, as saying that the report was a wake-up call about the rising risks to lives and livelihoods. “In response, WMO and the global community are intensifying efforts to strengthen early warning systems and climate services to help society be more resilient to extreme weather,” she said. “Only half of all countries have adequate early warning systems – this must change.” She stressed that investment in weather, water and climate services was more important than ever.
