According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the climate crisis reached terrifying new extremes in 2024, with a surge of unprecedented heatwaves, floods, and supercharged storms battering communities across the globe.
In its annual climate report, the UN’s weather agency confirmed that 2024 was officially the hottest year on record, triggering 151 extreme weather events worse than any previously recorded in their respective regions. These disasters left a devastating toll—more than 800,000 people were displaced and rendered homeless, the highest annual figure since 2008.
Heatwaves shattered records on every continent. In Japan, hundreds of thousands were affected by heatstroke, while temperatures soared to 49.9°C in Carnarvon, Australia, 49.7°C in Tabas, Iran, and 48.5°C across Mali during a nationwide heatwave. These intense heat events were part of a broader pattern of deadly, climate-fueled temperature spikes.
Record rainfall brought catastrophic consequences in Europe and Africa. Italy suffered massive floods, landslides, and power blackouts, while torrential floods in Senegal destroyed thousands of homes. In Pakistan and Brazil, flash floods led to severe crop destruction, further compounding economic and food security challenges.
The oceans, too, unleashed their fury. Storms intensified by global warming lashed multiple nations, including an alarming six typhoons hitting the Philippines in under a month—a record-breaking event. The United States faced its climatic reckoning as Hurricane Helene became the strongest storm ever recorded in Florida’s Big Bend region. Super Typhoon Yagi devastated Vietnam in Southeast Asia, impacting 3.6 million people.
Worryingly, the WMO notes that many more extreme weather events likely went unrecorded, highlighting gaps in global monitoring and the underreported toll of climate breakdown.
As 2024 sets a new bar for climate disruption, the report underscores an urgent truth: the world is no longer merely warming—it is destabilizing. Without immediate and large-scale climate action, these “unprecedented” disasters will only become the new normal. Read More
News Credit: The Guardian
Picture Credit: Daniel Marenco/The Guardian