2023 was the hottest year ever recorded — but 2024 is on track to beat it.
What's happening?
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), July 2024 was the hottest July on record.
July isn't the only month breaking records. Every month in the past 14 months has beaten its previous monthly temperature record for average global surface temperature, according to the NOAA.
"The streak started in June 2023 and now exceeds the record streak set over 2015 and 2016," the Guardian quoted Karin Gleason, monitoring section chief at the NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information. Per the report, the NOAA said that there is a 77% chance that 2024 will beat out 2023 for the new hottest year on record.
"What is truly staggering is how large the difference is between the temperature of the last 13 months and the previous temperature records," said Carlo Buontempo, director of the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, per the Guardian. "We are now in truly uncharted territory, and as the climate keeps warming, we are bound to see new records being broken in future months and years."
Why is global heating so concerning?
The reality is clear: This unnaturally accelerated rise in temperature is due to the burning of dirty energy sources.
Additionally, the Guardian explained, climate scientists are now emphasizing that "efforts to keep the world to within a 1.5C [2.7 degrees Fahrenheit] temperature rise beyond pre-industrial times are insufficient." This means that the pollution goals and plans that have been established by many countries have not been addressed with sufficient progress or are not strict enough to prevent the impact of these temperatures.
It's not good news. According to the United Nations, the World Health Organization (WHO) calculated that global heating is responsible for at least 150,000 deaths per year, a number that is expected to double by 2030 and a "dire" threat to health.
The changes in climate also cause ripple effects, including severe weather events, a loss of biodiversity, the emergence of disease, the destruction of ecosystems, and more.
What's being done to slow down rising temperatures?
The Guardian quoted Drew Shindell, a climate scientist at Duke University, who urged that governments and corporations around the world "need to do absolutely everything we can to reduce the emissions driving climate change more rapidly."
"That means accelerating the phaseout of fossil fuels, reducing methane this decade, and tackling agricultural emissions as well," he continued.
To take action in your community, you can consult TCD's guide.
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