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1171. 2024 Extreme Weather – Risks Become Reality

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1171. 2024 Extreme Weather – Risks Become Reality 

 

The World Weather Attribution (WWA), which analyzes the causal relationship between extreme events and climate change, also noted a 41-day increase in heatwaves that threaten human health in 2024, noting that the "risks become reality."
 

In 2024, high temperatures approaching record highs have led to frequent extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts, forest fires, storms, and floods. According to the WWA's analysis, 26 events claimed the lives of at least 3,700 people and forced the displacement of millions. In fact, in 2024, there were 219 events that  reached the threshold covered by the WWA, and the human toll exacerbated by climate change is likely to be much greater. This suggests the impact of 1.3°C of warming due to anthropogenic factors, and indicates the urgency of reducing fossil fuels that contribute to global warming.

Globally, in 2024, climate change increased the number of heatwaves threatening human health by 41 days. Such dangerous heat waves have affected vulnerable societies in island states and developing countries, among others, but it is estimated that some cases have not been fully reported.

While many of the extreme events that occurred in early 2024 were influenced by El Niño, WWA's analysis has inferred that even in cases like the worst drought in the Amazon's history, climate change was a major factor and El Niño only exacerbated the situation. As global warming progresses, climate change is becoming a more significant determinant of weather patterns, extending its impact beyond natural phenomena. 

The record-breaking high temperatures of 2024 also manifested themselves in the form of record-breaking heavy rainfall events. It was estimated that 15 of the 16 floods analyzed by WWA were caused by climate change, supporting the physics of climate change – the higher the temperature, the more water vapor the air can hold, resulting in more intense heavy rainfall.

The Amazon rainforest and the Pantanal wetlands were also severely damaged by severe biodiversity loss due to severe drought and fires in 2024. The Amazon is the world's most important terrestrial carbon sink and plays a pivotal role in stabilizing the global climate, and there is an urgent need to avoid deforestation to protect ecosystems from drought and fire. 

WWA's 2025 resolution calls for an accelerated transition away from fossil fuels, improved early warning systems, real-time reporting of human toll due to heatwaves, and greater financing for developing countries.

 

Contributor: IIYAMA Miyuki, Information Program


 

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