Last week, Earth experienced its hottest day in recent history. According to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), on Monday, 22nd July, temperatures reached a daily global average of 17.16 °C
This beat the previous record of 17.09°C, set just one day before. Tuesday 23rd then marked the world’s second hottest day, at 17.15°C.
Record-Breaking Temperatures Continue
The last time temperatures were as high was back in July 2023, and prior to that, August 2016.
However, the C3S noted that from 3 July 2023 to 23 July 2024, 59 days exceeded the previous record, distributed between July and August 2023 and during June and July so far in 2024.
Indeed, the organisation, which releases monthly climate bulletins, explained that both 2023 and 2024 have seen annual highs substantially above those recorded in previous years.
These record-breaking days also follow a 13-month heat streak after the hottest year on record in 2023.
“What is truly staggering is how large the difference is between the temperature of the last 13 months and the previous temperature records,” said C3S Director Carlo Buontempo, adding that the world is now in “truly uncharted territory.”
“We are bound to see new records being broken in future months and years,” Buontempo said.
Countries around the world, from across North America to India, have been battling against extreme temperatures in recent years.
The MENA, in particular, has been highlighted as one of the regions most at risk, with a previous study finding that it is warming at nearly twice the rate of the global average.
The impact of this extreme heat can be fatal.
Earlier this year, for example, roughly 1.8 million people undertook the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, which resulted in one thousand three hundred people losing their lives amidst temperatures that soared above 50 degrees.
Research also suggests that the number of heat-related deaths is only likely to rise in the region.
Last year, one study forecast that by the end of the century, under high-emissions scenarios, the figure could be 60-fold greater.
Fossil Fuel-Charged, Human-Induced Climate Crisis Driving Record Heat
Against this backdrop of unprecedented heat, the United Nations (UN) has launched a call to action.
Commenting on the emerging data, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that billions are facing an extreme heat epidemic: “If there is one thing that unites our divided world, it’s that we’re all increasingly feeling the heat. Earth is becoming hotter and more dangerous for everyone, everywhere.”
Guterres said that heat is “tearing through economies,” widening inequalities, undermining SDGS, and killing people.
“Heat is estimated to kill almost half a million people a year, that’s about 30 times more than tropical cyclones,” said the UN chief.
However, Guterres also outlined that this extreme heat is not affecting everyone equally, with the urban poor, pregnant women, people with disabilities, older people, the very young, the sick, the displaced and the impoverished bearing the brunt.
The driving cause of this deadly heat? “Fossil fuel-charged, human-induced climate change,” said Guterres.
Call to Action
On Thursday, the UN launched its extreme heat report, detailing the extent of the climate crisis-driven “crippling” heat and the steps required to turn the tide.
The report outlined that measures to phase out fossil fuels must be “turbo-charged.”
Guterres, in his press speech, outlined that alongside extreme heat, other devastating symptoms of the climate crisis include droughts, rising sea levels and wildfires.
“To tackle all these symptoms, we need to fight the disease,” he said. “The disease is the madness of incinerating our only home. The disease is the addiction to fossil fuels. The disease is climate inaction.
Adding: “Leaders across the board must wake up and step up.”
Guterres also called out “the flood” of fossil fuel expansion in some of the world’s wealthiest nations.
Indeed, analysis of Rystad data by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) found that rich countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Norway and the United Kingdom, have issued two-thirds of the global number of oil and gas licences since 2020.
Further, if fully exploited, resources discovered in oil and gas exploration activities in 2024 could unleash 12 billion tonnes of CO2—this is more than the past four years’ discoveries combined.
Likewise, the IISD estimated that if all licensed fields are fully exploited, the world will extract more than twice as much oil and gas in 2040 as is compatible with the 1.5°C limit.
“The “production gap” is widening at its highest rate since 2015,” it said.
“Ending oil and gas licensing is a logical next step in the transition to clean energy. Governments need to put the COP 28 agreement into practice—particularly those with the wealth to drive investment into more sustainable sectors,” commented Olivier Bois von Kursk, policy advisor at IISD.
These findings follow research from the Energy Institute last month, which found that the world saw record high fossil fuel consumption last year, while fossil fuel subsidies remain eye-wateringly high.
For example, in 2022, fossil fuel subsidies hit a record USD 7tn, with subsidies from G20 countries reaching at least USD 1tn.
In his speech, Guterres called for the G20 to “shift fossil fuel subsidies to renewables,” while the UN report urged a scaling up of investment in renewable energy.
“Countries must phase-out fossil fuels – fast and fairly,” he outlined, adding: “The message is clear: the heat is on.”
This is the warning that not only the UN, but many other organisations have been issuing for years.
At the press conference, when asked by a reporter whether he is frustrated at the level of persistent and global climate inaction, the Secretary-General said that frustration “inhibits action.”
“I’m determined to turn things around and to do everything I can for those that have the decision capacity to do so to effectively turn things around. And we must recognize that a lot is being done,” said Guterres, spotlighting record renewable energy increases and the rise of EVs.
However, he noted that it is “too little, too late.”
“The problem is that climate change is running faster than all the measures that are now being put in place to fight it,” said Guterres, adding: “And that is why it is important to understand that we need a huge acceleration of all the dimensions of climate action.”