Due to climate change induced by humans, people have experienced an average of 41 more days of severe heat this year. This climate change increased dangerous heat, searing Mexico and Central America with hot midday temperatures, while Northern California and Death Valley were cooked by oppressive heat. West African children have already been at risk due to heat, and Greece was compelled to close the Acropolis due to the extreme heat in southern Europe. Extreme heat caused schools in South and Southeast Asia to close. Earth had its warmest summer yet, with a 13-month heat streak that barely ended, including some of the hottest days ever recorded.

In a year that broke one climate record after another, millions of people have had to live with these record-breaking conditions. After a year filled with deadly weather events that spared few, the study from researchers at Climate Central and World Weather Attribution concluded the year. The experts claim that a large portion of the world’s destructive weather in 2024 has been exacerbated by climate change, increasing the likelihood and severity of catastrophic storms.

Scientific Analysis and Unveiled Findings

A group of foreign experts who volunteered to do the investigation contrasted the daily temperatures in 2024 with those predicted in a world without climate change. Although not yet peer-reviewed, the results were obtained using accepted peer-reviewed techniques. Climate change caused 150 days or more of excessive heat in some places, with considerably more occurring in the poorest, least-developed nations.

After extensively examining 29 extreme weather events that caused millions of people to be evacuated and at least 3,700 deaths this year, researchers discovered that 26 were directly connected to climate change.

Earlier in the year, some events were more likely due to the El Niño weather phenomenon, which naturally heats the Pacific Ocean and alters weather patterns worldwide. However, the researchers concluded that the events in 2024 had been more heavily influenced by climate change. High temperatures caused record-breaking downpours, while warmer air and ocean waters fueled more damaging storms.

The researchers stressed that, compared to the pre-industrial average, the globe is getting closer to the 1.5°C warming limit set by the Paris Agreement. Although Earth is predicted to cross this threshold soon, the breach is only deemed significant if warming continues for decades.

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Human Costs and Calls to Action

Although devastating, the results were not surprising, according to Friederike Otto, the lead of World Weather Attribution and a climate scientist at Imperial College, who emphasized that climate change increased dangerous heat and was a major factor in most of the occurrences under investigation. According to Otto, millions of people—many of whom went uncounted—had their lives and means of subsistence shattered by these severe catastrophes.

One extreme event where climate change has had a significant impact is heat waves, which are by far the deadliest. Heat-related fatalities are frequently underreported despite this reality. Otto emphasized that deaths during heat waves are preventable and stressed the urgent need to increase awareness.

According to Jennifer Francis, a climate scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center, unless the amount of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere is reduced, extreme weather will continue to increase in frequency, intensity, and fatality. With higher carbon dioxide emissions this year than last, the UN Environment Program cautioned that if nothing is done, there would likely be a considerable increase in climate extremes.

Extreme weather events do not, however, always result in fatalities or significant damage. The Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Center‘s Julie Arrighi emphasized that nations may lessen their effects by becoming ready and adapting to climate change. Every nation has a part to play in solving the issue, even if the difficulties are different around the world.

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