A year of extreme weather that has challenged billions

Climate change has brought record temperatures this year, and with them extreme weather, from hurricanes to month-long droughts.

This year is expected to be the hottest on record, and new research shows that people around the world have experienced an extra 41 days of dangerous heat due to climate change.

Researchers from the World Weather Attribution (WWA) group at Imperial College and Climate Central said the study shows “we are living in a dangerous new era”.

From Brazil to Indonesia, we take a look at the climate events that will impact billions of lives in 2024.

This was a hot year, with record temperatures set on land and at sea several times.

In April, dozens of countries, from Lebanon in the west to Cambodia in the east, suffered a prolonged heat wave, leading to the risk of dehydration and heatstroke.

But Julie Arrighi, program director at the Red Cross and Red Crescent Climate Centre, said the impacts are not equal.

“Young people and those over 65, especially those with pre-existing health conditions (are at risk) – they are physiologically less able to handle extreme heat,” she said.

She said people in conflict zones have also suffered disproportionately due to their housing situations, including living in temporary shelters, which can be exacerbated by heat, or water system failure.

Research has shown That population can adapt over time to higher temperatures, but even with that in mind, scientists at WWA and Climate Central estimate in 2024 the world's population would have experienced 41 more days of dangerous heat — compared to a world without climate change.

Dr Frederick Otto, President of WWA and Senior Lecturer in Climate Science at Imperial College London, said: “The impacts of warming fossil fuels have never been more evident or more devastating than in 2024.

“We live in a dangerous new era – extreme weather is causing relentless suffering.”

The regional heat wave around the Amazon has been exacerbated by… A natural climate phenomenon called El NiñoBut researchers at WWA and Climate Central said climate change remained the driving force.

Along with rising temperatures, rainfall has also decreased in part of South America. According to officials in Colombia Amazon river levels dropped by 90%, severely impacting energy supplies and crop productivity and leading to forest fires.

Nearly half a million children are believed to have been affected by school closures in Brazil and Colombia due to lack of drinking water. According to UNICEF.

The Amazon River is also an important lifeline for its namesake rainforest – which provides support for thousands of species and supports global efforts to tackle climate change.

“We fear that (climate change) may irreversibly push the forest into a drier state, leading to reduced moisture flux and carbon storage, as well as loss of biodiversity,” said Dr. Regina Rodriguez, professor of physical oceanography and climatology at the Federal University. (Santa Catarina, Brazil).

She said: “All of these critical operations are necessary not only locally and regionally, but also at the global level in order to preserve life as we know it.”

While some suffer from a lack of rain, others have had too much rain.

The Philippines experienced a record six typhoons in just 30 days during October and November, following six months of storms. The country is one of the countries most vulnerable to these tropical storms due to its location close to warm ocean waters.

Landslides and floods caused by storms this season have killed more than 1,200 people across Southeast Asia.

There is currently no evidence that climate change is increasing the number of hurricanes or tornadoes (same phenomenon but named differently around the world), although research suggests it may increase their intensity.

But an assessment of the season by WWA scientists concluded that record ocean temperatures set in 2024 were “conducive” to the formation of such storms, and those temperatures were enhanced by climate change.

Dr. Zach Zobel, an associate scientist at the Woodwell Center for Climate Research, who was not involved in the study, supported the WWA's approach but added: “(This season) didn't tell us anything that we didn't already know was coming at 1.3-1.5 degrees Celsius (warmer) in the world.

“Scientists have been warning that these extreme events are becoming more frequent for years, if not decades,” he said.

Even the richest countries have not been able to fully protect themselves from extreme weather this year. The US has seen two hurricanes in a row – first Hurricane Helen and then Hurricane Milton – which left more than 260 people dead and $115bn (£92bn) in damage, according to research by Christian Aid.

Scientists had expected An “exceptional” season. Due to rising ocean temperatures in the Atlantic, which fuels hurricanes.

But although Hurricane Beryl was the first Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record on July 2, there was a mid-season lull before Hurricane Helen struck.

Dr. Otto told the BBC that normally large storms could pull heat from the ocean and prevent new hurricanes from forming for some time, but qualitative evidence suggested that “because the entire upper part of the ocean was so hot, this effect did not occur.”

She added that WWA looks forward to conducting further analysis on this matter in the future.

Floods that struck Sudan and Nigeria in August and September showed that extreme weather conditions can be exacerbated by poor infrastructure maintenance.

Heavy rains begin in July It caused widespread flooding that led to the collapse of several dams, killing dozens of people and forcing thousands to abandon their homes.

The report by WWA and Climate Central estimates that these extreme rainfall episodes are becoming common events due to human-caused warming, and are expected to occur on average every three to 10 years.

“Our studies continue to show the need to strengthen preparedness for extreme weather to reduce loss of life and damage,” said Julie Arrighi of the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre.

“We are not well prepared for life with a temperature rise of 1.3-1.5 degrees Celsius.”