The report from World Weather Attribution (WWA) and Climate Central concluded that climate change intensified 26 of the 29 extreme weather phenomena targeted in the study, responsible for killing at least 3,700 people and causing the displacement of millions of citizens.
WWA is made up of researchers from various scientific and university institutions and has protocols and partnerships with local experts that allow for rapid assessment of extreme weather phenomena around the world, also using climate models and specialized literature.
The two organisations defined the "dangerous heat" days of more than 200 countries and territories by analysing the average temperatures in these areas between 1991 and 2020 and identifying the 10% hottest percentile, with the values usually associated with greater health risks.
Calculating the average number of days hotter than normal in different territories, it was concluded that 2024 had 41 more days of "dangerous heat" in the world than in a scenario without climate change.
"This is in line with the broader trend that, as the planet continues to warm, the effects of climate change increasingly dominate other natural factors that influence climate," the scientists warned.
The study's authors called for a "much faster" transition away from fossil fuels and greater preparedness by countries for extreme weather.
Among the recommendations are real-time reporting on deaths due to extreme heat and increased international funding to help developing countries become more resilient.
The non-governmental organisation Climate Central, based in the United States, studies climate change and its impact on people's lives.
Joseph Giguere, a research associate at Climate Central, highlighted that temperatures high enough to threaten human health "are becoming more common due to climate change."
"In many countries, residents are exposed to additional weeks of heat, reaching risk thresholds that would be practically impossible without the influence of global warming," he warned.
WWA leader Friederike Otto stressed that society has the knowledge and technology to move away from fossil fuels and switch to renewable energy, reduce demand and stop deforestation.
The measures must be implemented and not remain relegated to the background by technologies such as carbon dioxide removal, which "won't work without doing everything else first", argued the climate science professor at Imperial College London.
"The solutions have been in front of us for years. By 2025, all countries must intensify their efforts to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy and prepare for extreme weather conditions," warned Otto.
Extremely hot days are weather extremes that have nothing to do with global warming. Global warming is only felt over the course of a few hundred years.
By Pete from Algarve on 29 Dec 2024, 09:18
There's nothing stopping people from eliminating fossil fuels in their lives. No one is putting a gun to people's heads to use oil and gas. So just stop everybody , especially the big mouth totalitarians who want to use state coercion to stop us from using when these same hypocritical devotees to the religion of alarmism use and pollute more than the people they're trying to indoctrinate.
By Tony from USA on 30 Dec 2024, 23:54