2024 is poised to shatter global temperature records, with experts confirming that this year will almost certainly surpass all previous records for heat. According to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, global temperatures in 2024 are “virtually certain” to make it the warmest year ever documented.
With only two months remaining, the data suggests that 2024 will end up more than 1.5°C hotter than pre-industrial levels—the first time this symbolic threshold has been breached in recorded history.
The rising temperatures come on the back of an already alarming trajectory of climate extremes. Scientists have warned that this year’s extreme weather events, from intense storms to destructive floods, are part of a growing pattern driven largely by human-caused climate change. This unsettling trend is wreaking havoc across the globe, with communities from Fiji to the Arabian Peninsula and South America suffering from the devastating effects of shifting weather patterns.
Unpredictable and Devastating Weather Events
As 2024 unfolds, the year has been marred by an alarming series of unprecedented climactic anomalies. In early November, the first late snowfall in 130 years was recorded on Mount Fuji, Japan, marking the end of the longest snowless period in the region’s history. This rare weather event is one of many indicators of the profound changes underway in Earth’s climate systems.
At the same time, an unexpected wave of severe weather in Saudi Arabia has seen hailstorms and heavy rains ravage parts of the Al-Jawf region. These extraordinary weather conditions are being driven by a low-pressure system that has spread across the region, a phenomenon that is increasingly being linked to the broader, long-term effects of climate change.
Saudi Arabia, like much of the Middle East, is becoming more vulnerable to such intense weather events, with the World Bank warning that West Asia is one of the most climate-sensitive regions in the world.
In other parts of the world, the story is no different. The UAE’s National Centre of Meteorology attributes the recent surge in hailstorms across the Arabian Peninsula to a low-pressure system extending from the Arabian Sea. Experts note that the warming of the atmosphere and oceans is playing a significant role in altering weather patterns, making storms more unpredictable and severe.
Unprecedented Heatwaves and Deadly Floods
The year 2024 has already witnessed an alarming number of heatwaves and intense weather systems. In June, a brutal heatwave in Saudi Arabia claimed the lives of over 1,100 pilgrims during the Hajj, as temperatures soared above 50°C. These extreme temperatures are becoming more frequent and intense as climate change continues to fuel global warming.
Meanwhile, the world has also seen devastating floods. In Brazil, torrential rains led to catastrophic flooding in the southern region, affecting over 478 cities, killing at least 150 people, and displacing hundreds of thousands.
The extreme rainfall that caused these floods was made significantly more likely by climate change, which has been shown to amplify the intensity and frequency of rainfall events.
Typhoon Yagi, Asia’s most violent storm of the year, has claimed the lives of at least 220 people and nearly 80 went missing in Myanmar. The heavy monsoon has brought damage to the central regions of Mandalay, Magway, Bago, and the Ayeyarwaddy Delta also. The eastern states, Shan, Kayah, Kayin, and Mon have also been affected.
In East Africa, severe flooding caused by heavy rains has killed hundreds and displaced over 700,000 people, with the frequency of such events increasing over the past 15 years due to climate-related shifts in weather patterns. Similar flooding in Bangladesh led to massive landslides and left nearly 2 million people stranded, further underscoring how the growing unpredictability of the climate is affecting vulnerable populations.
Unprecedented Wildfires, Droughts, and Cyclones
Earlier this year, devastating wildfires in Chile killed at least 131 people and destroyed more than 14,000 homes. These fires were exacerbated by prolonged droughts and heatwaves, with climate change increasing the frequency and severity of such fires.
The same month, Cyclone Remal, one of the most powerful storms in recent memory, struck India and Bangladesh, killing at least 84 people and causing widespread destruction. These kinds of powerful storms, scientists say, are becoming more frequent and intense as global temperatures continue to rise.
In the Mediterranean, last year’s Storm Bettina brought heavy snow and rainfall to several countries along the Black Sea, affecting over 2.5 million people and causing 23 fatalities. The heavy precipitation in the region was made more likely by human-induced climate change, which is altering global weather patterns in ways that make extreme weather events more common and more severe.
A Wake-Up Call for Global Action
The unprecedented events of 2024 have underscored a grim reality: we are already living through the impacts of a rapidly changing climate, and it’s only going to get worse unless urgent action is taken. With global temperatures set to exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, climate scientists are sounding the alarm. Failure to curb greenhouse gas emissions is likely to lead to even more extreme weather events in the coming years.
In addition to this, former US President Donald Trump’s return to tenure also rings the alarm bells as marked by his withdrawal from key agreements such as the Paris Climate Accord (Paris Agreement) during his previous tenure.
As the world prepares for the COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan next week, the need for decisive action has never been clearer. While some of the extreme weather of 2024, such as the El Niño pattern, may have contributed to the record-breaking temperatures, scientists are adamant that the dominant cause is human activity—particularly the burning of fossil fuels, which continues to pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at an alarming rate.
COP29 also comes on the heels of the UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report 2024, which cautioned that unless more aggressive measures are taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, global temperatures are set to rise by 2.6°C to 3.1°C this century—an increase that would have “devastating” effects on the planet.
Manbilas Singh is a talented writer and journalist who focuses on the finer details in every story and values integrity above everything. A self-proclaimed sleuth, he strives to expose the fine print behind seemingly mundane activities and aims to uncover the truth that is hidden from the general public. In his time away from work, he is a music aficionado and a nerd who revels in video & board games, books and Formula 1.
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