Doha: Climate change remains the most pressing and formidable challenge confronting humanity today. This phenomenon not only impacts the environment but also threatens the stability of health systems, economies, and societies across the globe.
According to Qatar News Agency, in a stark warning, a UN report released on Wednesday highlighted that climate change reached unprecedented levels in 2024, with some consequences of this human-induced disaster predicted to be irreversible for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, even if immediate corrective measures are taken.
The State of the Global Climate report, issued by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), revealed that 2024 was likely the first calendar year where the Earth’s surface temperature exceeded 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels. This made it the warmest year in the 175-year observational record.
The report found that carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere reached their highest levels in 800,000 years. It noted that each of the past ten years individually ranked among the ten warmest years on record and that the last eight years each set new records for ocean heat.
It also reported that the rate of sea-level rise had doubled since satellite measurements began and predicted that ocean temperatures would continue increasing until at least the end of the 21st century, even under scenarios of low carbon emissions.
The WMO’s 2024 report documented widespread destruction from extreme weather events that claimed lives, demolished buildings, damaged vital crops, and displaced more than 800,000 people, rendering them homeless. This figure marked the highest annual displacement recorded since data collection began in 2008.
The report detailed 151 unprecedented climate phenomena that occurred in 2024. Among them, heatwaves in Japan resulted in hundreds of thousands of heatstroke cases, with temperatures peaking at 49.9 C in western Australia, 49.7 C in Tabas, Iran, and 48.5 C during a heatwave in Mali. Record rainfall in Italy caused floods, landslides, and power outages, while torrential flooding destroyed thousands of homes in Senegal. Flash floods in Pakistan and Brazil caused severe crop losses. Global warming further intensified storms in 2024, as the Philippines endured six unprecedented typhoons in less than a month. Hurricane Helen became the strongest storm to ever hit Florida’s Big Bend region, while Super Typhoon Yagi impacted Vietnam, affecting 3.6 million people.
The WMO report underscored that the world is already engulfed in a climate crisis. Despite the past decade recording the ten hottest years on record, global carbon emissions have continued to rise, leading to increasingly severe consequences. (MORE)