St. Kitts and Nevis – As small island developing states strive to gain the necessary respect from industrialised nations regarding the impacts of climate change, the ripple effects of greenhouse gas emissions are increasingly felt worldwide.
In July, the world experienced its hottest day on record, and scientists now believe that this month could become the hottest ever recorded. Clare Nullis of the World Meteorological Organisation highlighted in a press conference on Wednesday, August 07, 2024, that the rising temperatures are having a domino effect on hundreds of millions of people globally.
“We saw a hot June continue throughout July with really, really, really devastating impacts on communities, on people’s health, on ecosystems, also on economies. So extreme heat really has a domino effect across society. The world’s hottest day on record, on recent record at least, was registered. This was [July 22]. And all of this is really yet another unwelcome indication, one of many, of the extent that greenhouse gases are, in fact, changing our climate.”
With July 22, 2024, marked as the hottest day, Nullis noted that this trend has persisted throughout the past year. She emphasised that the ongoing heatwave underscores the urgent need for action, as António Guterres, UN Secretary-General, called for in his Call to Action on Extreme Heat.
“To put it in context, global average temperatures for the past 13 months now, so that’s June 2023 to June 2024, have set new monthly records. We’re still awaiting the data for the month of July, which will confirm whether if that extreme exceptional trend is continuing in July. And it underlines the urgency of the recent call to action on extreme heat by the UN Secretary General. And if you recall, when he launched this call to action, he said that Earth is becoming hotter and more dangerous for everyone, everywhere.”
Meteorologists have noted that some countries consistently record temperatures exceeding 50 degrees Celsius. Such extreme heat poses significant health risks for all residents, particularly the elderly and those on certain medications.
“At least 10 countries in the past year have recorded daily temperatures of more than 50 degrees Celsius [in] more than one location. So you about it here today is probably late 20s. So add an extra 20 degrees Celsius to that, and you can well imagine this is too hot for the body to handle. Death Valley in California, which is known to be the world’s hottest place, it does hold a long-standing record for being the world’s hottest place. That registered a record average monthly temperature of 42.5 degrees Celsius, which is 108.5 degrees Fahrenheit. That is day and night combined for the entire month. According to our special rapporteur on this, who’s a gentleman called Randy Cerveny, he said this does seem to be reliably the new monthly record, although we will not be conducting a detailed investigation. And as Alvaro will tell you, even the frozen sheets of Antarctica are really, really, really feeling the heat.”
According to officials from the WMO and the World Health Organisation, scaling up heat health-warning systems in 57 countries alone could potentially save an estimated 98,000 lives per year. But they cautioned that “climate adaptation alone is not sufficient” and emphasised that addressing “root causes” is essential.
