Beijing: The urgency of the climate crisis was underscored by the revelation that 2024 was the second-hottest July on record. The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) announced on Wednesday that this July marked the end of a 13-month streak of record-breaking temperatures, with new records set every month from June 2023 to June 2024.
The average global temperature in July 2024 was 16.91 degrees Celsius, just 0.04 degrees less than the record established in July 2023. Samantha Burgess, Deputy Director at C3S, says this small variation shows that “the overall context hasn’t changed.”
Additionally, as of Thursday, the C3S said that 2024 is still projected to be the warmest year on record. The average global temperature from 1991 and 2020 was 0.7 degrees higher in 2024. Unless there is a major drop in temperature in the upcoming months, this year is not expected to be colder than 2023.
The global impact of the climate crisis was starkly evident on July 21 and 22, when the world experienced its two hottest consecutive days on record. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on July 25, warned that the Earth is becoming ‘hotter and more dangerous’, emphasizing the need for international cooperation to combat severe heat.
Even after the days of record-breaking heat, the effects of excessive heat persist. Tuesday saw a total of 14 heat-related deaths in South Korea. In July, a staggering 3,647 people in Japan were admitted to hospitals as a result of heatstroke. According to the German DAK-Gesundheit heat report, which was made public on Monday, one in four Germans—particularly the elderly—have had health issues due to this year’s high heat.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) emphasised that climate change, more frequent and intense heatwaves, wildfires, and other extreme weather events are all related to the record-breaking temperatures.
Four thousand people had to be evacuated from the Park Fire in northern California, which started in early August and was the fourth-largest wildfire in California’s history. The fire, fueled by the extreme heat and dry conditions, is a stark reminder of the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires due to climate change.
Constant heatwaves have increased electricity demand and caused frequent power outages in Southern and Eastern Europe. The higher demand for cooling systems and the strain on power grids due to the extreme temperatures highlight the broader implications of climate change on infrastructure and daily life.
Senior climate scientist Julien Nicholas of C3S issued a call to action to the global community. He stressed the need for collective efforts to address greenhouse gas emissions, the primary cause of global warming. This collective action, he emphasised, is crucial in the fight against climate change.
“There’s been a lot of attention given to this 13-month streak of global records,” said Nicolas. “But the consequences of climate change have been seen for many years … And they won’t end because this streak of records is ending.”
–IANS
