2024 Poised to be Hottest Year on Record, Warns WMO
The WMO has declared 2024 as likely the warmest year on record, highlighting the consequences of climate change with unprecedented heat, lethal weather extremes, and significant loss of life. WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo and UN Secretary-General António Guterres have emphasized the urgent need for global emission reductions. A new initiative to monitor greenhouse gas emissions is being launched to mitigate climate impacts.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has announced that 2024 is poised to be the warmest year on record, concluding a decade marked by extraordinary heat primarily driven by human activities. WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo remarked on the dire climatic conditions observed this year, including extensive rainfall, catastrophic flooding, and severe tropical cyclones, which collectively resulted in significant loss of life and displacement globally.
An alarming report highlighted that at least 3,700 fatalities were attributable to climate-related weather events in 2024 alone. Furthermore, the report suggested that the overall death toll from such extreme occurrences intensified by climate change could reach into the hundreds of thousands. Individuals faced an increase in exposure to perilously high temperatures, significantly worsening health risks, particularly in vulnerable island nations and developing regions.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres indicated that the previous decade had recorded the hottest years since modern records began, underscoring the urgency for nations to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to avert catastrophic climate outcomes. The effects of climate change are anticipated to intensify as the global temperature nears the critical threshold of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
The WMO highlighted the failure of recent international climate conferences to establish new carbon reduction targets and secure necessary financial support for poorer nations. To counter these persistent threats, the WMO is launching the Global Greenhouse Gas Watch initiative aimed at improving the monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions and their atmospheric impacts, while urging countries to enhance their extreme weather early warning systems to better protect at-risk populations globally.
The warning from the WMO regarding 2024 being the warmest year on record is part of a long-standing concern surrounding climate change and its profound effects on weather patterns, ecological stability, and human health. The agency underscores the alarming increase in climate-related natural disasters, which have become a focal point in discussions about global warming and sustainability. Evidence reveals that human activities, especially fossil fuel combustion, have drastically accelerated climate change, leading to more frequent and intense weather phenomena.
In summary, the predictions by the World Meteorological Organization for 2024 reiterate the critical state of global climate health, emphasizing the need for immediate action to mitigate further warming. The adverse effects of climate change are becoming overwhelmingly apparent, with extensive loss of life and degradation of communities linked to increasing extreme weather events. Urgent intervention to reduce emissions and enhance international cooperation on climate action is imperative to safeguard vulnerable populations and establish a sustainable future.
Original Source: healthpolicy-watch.news
