The United Nations said on Monday that climate change could lead to extreme weather and record heat by 2024, and urged the world to turn back from the “path to destruction”.
The United Nations weather and climate agency said the coming year was set to be the hottest year ever recorded, with unprecedented heat in a decade.
Meanwhile, greenhouse gas emissions have reached new record highs, causing even more warming in the future, the World Meteorological Organization said.
“Climate change appears before our eyes on an almost daily basis in the form of the increasing incidence and impact of extreme weather events,” said Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of WMO.
“This year we have seen record-breaking rainfall and flooding events in many countries and catastrophic loss of life, leaving communities heartbroken on every continent.
“Tropical cyclones cause terrible human and economic damage, most recently in the French overseas department of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean.
“The intense heat scorched dozens of countries, with temperatures reaching 50 °C (122 °F) on several occasions. Wildfires wreaked havoc.”
climate breakdown
The goal of the 2015 Paris climate agreement was to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and, if possible, to 1.5C.
In November, the WMO said the January-September average surface air temperature was 1.54C higher than the pre-industrial average measured between 1850 and 1900.
It is on track to surpass the record set in 2023 in 2024.
Temperatures last year were 1.45C higher than before the Industrial Revolution, when humanity began burning large amounts of fossil fuels.
WMO is set to publish consolidated global temperature data for 2024 in January, followed by its full State of Global Climate 2024 report in March.
In his New Year’s message, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reflected on the record temperatures over the past decade.
“Today I can officially announce that we have endured a decade of deadly heat. The top 10 hottest years on record have all occurred in the last 10 years, including 2024,” he said.
“This is climate change in real time.
He said, “We have to get off this path of destruction – and we have no time to lose.”
“In 2025, countries must put the world on a safer path by dramatically reducing emissions and supporting the transition to a renewable future.
“It is necessary, and it is possible.”
Focus on 2025 frozen world
Saulo said he had repeatedly warned about the state of the climate through 2024.
“If we want a safer planet, we have to act now,” he said.
Experts from 15 international organisations, 12 countries and a number of leading academic and NGO leaders gathered at WMO’s Geneva headquarters from 17-19 December to work on a coordinated framework to address the growing threats from extreme heat.
WMO will turn 75 in 2025 and intends to celebrate this anniversary by focusing on the cryosphere: the frozen part of the Earth, including sea ice, ice sheets and frozen land.
WMO is also behind a major effort for better climate services and early warning systems.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)