A Year of Heat and Havoc: Why 2024 Must Be a Wake-Up Call
N
o part of the world was spared from crippling climate disasters in 2024, with cascading effects on communities, economies, and ecosystems. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) confirmed that 2024 was officially the warmest year on record, surpassing 2023, which had previously held the record. Global temperature data going back to 1850 shows an alarming trend of escalating heat.
“Today I can officially report that we have just endured a decade of deadly heat. The ten hottest years on record have occurred in the last decade, including 2024,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres in his New Year’s message. “We are facing a climate breakdown in real time. We must get off this road to ruin, and we have no time to lose.”
With data from the first 11 months of 2024 now available, scientists project that the year will exceed the 2023 record average temperature of 1.48°C above pre-industrial levels. Disturbingly, 2024 will likely be the first year to surpass an average of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, marking a grim escalation of the climate crisis.
The Paris Climate Agreement commits 196 countries to limit global warming to below 1.5°C to mitigate the impact of climate disasters. However, this threshold is calculated over decades, not individual years. Crossing it even briefly underscores the urgent need for climate action.
“Intense heat has devastated dozens of countries, with temperatures exceeding 50°C on multiple occasions. Forest fires have wreaked havoc worldwide,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.
Climate change intensified 26 of the 29 weather events studied by World Weather Attribution (WWA) in 2024. These events killed at least 3,700 people and displaced millions. The latest WWA report revealed that climate change added 41 days of dangerous heat in 2024, significantly harming human health and ecosystems.
According to Christian Aid’s annual report, Counting the Cost 2024: A Year of Climate, the ten most destructive climate disasters of the year killed 2,000 people and caused $229 billion in damages. The United States bore the brunt, accounting for three-quarters of the financial destruction.
Hurricane Milton in the United States topped the list, with more than $60 billion in damages, followed by floods in Valencia, Spain, which claimed 224 lives and caused over $4.2 billion in losses. For the first time since Christian Aid began compiling its report in 2018, two storms in a single year—Hurricanes Milton and Helene—each caused over $50 billion in damages. Elsewhere, Typhoon Yagi in Southeast Asia, killed at least 829 people and caused $12.6 billion in damages whilst Storm Boris in Europe killed 26 people and caused $5 billion in losses. The real cost of these disasters is likely much higher, Christian Aid emphasized, as many people in poorer countries lack insurance.
“Most of these disasters show clear traces of climate change,” said Mariam Zachariah, a global weather attribution researcher at Imperial College London. “Extreme weather is causing incredible suffering in every corner of the world. This report is just a snapshot of the climate devastation in 2024. Many more droughts, heat waves, forest fires, and floods are not included—events that are becoming more frequent and intense.”
The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) emphasized that 2024’s grim milestones highlight the critical need for investment in climate adaptation. “We must shift from crisis response to forward-looking adaptation strategies that safeguard communities and economies from escalating climate impacts,” said Professor Patrick Verkooijen, President of GCA. GCA’s initiatives, including innovative financing models and nature-based solutions, aim to build resilience in vulnerable regions disproportionately affected by climate change.
“The transition to a global economy powered by renewables is inevitable, but the question is whether it will happen fast enough to protect the poorest people,” said Patrick Watt, CEO of Christian Aid. “At the moment, the answer is no. Rich countries must provide the funding needed to help the poorest communities adapt to climate impacts they have done little to cause.”
As the world faces yet another alarming milestone, the call for urgent action has never been clearer. Organizations like the Global Center on Adaptation are leading efforts to develop scalable solutions to protect lives and livelihoods, but greater global collaboration is essential to prevent further loss and suffering. Climate adaptation and mitigation must accelerate before the window for meaningful action closes.
The ideas presented in this article aim to inspire adaptation action – they are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Global Center on Adaptation.
