People cover their heads with scarves to protect them from the scorching heat on a hot summer day in Patna, Friday, May 31, 2024. Climate change contributed to the deaths of at least 3,700 people and the displacement of millions in 26 weather events studied in 2024, an analysis by World Weather Attribution (WWA) and Climate Central reveals. “These were just a small fraction of the 219 events that met our trigger criteria, used to identify the most impactful weather events. It’s likely the total number of people killed in extreme weather events intensified by climate change this year is in the tens, or hundreds of thousands,” the analysis said. Globally, climate change added on average 41 additional days of dangerous heat in 2024 that threatened people’s health, the new analysis added. Extreme weather reached dangerous new heights in 2024. This year’s record-breaking temperatures fueled unrelenting heatwaves, drought, wildfire, storms and floods that killed thousands of people and forced millions from their homes. This exceptional year of extreme weather shows how dangerous life has already become with 1.3°C of human-induced warming, and highlights the urgency of moving away from planet-heating fossil fuels as quickly as possible. The researchers, according to The Guardian , called for deaths from heatwaves to be reported in real time, with current data being a “very gross underestimate” because of the lack of monitoring. It is possible that uncounted millions of people have died as a result of human-caused global heating in recent decades. Heatwaves are the deadliest type of extreme weather. However, the dangers of high temperatures are underappreciated and underreported. In April, a hospital in Mali reported a surge in excess deaths as temperatures climbed to nearly 50°C. Reported by local media, the announcement was a rare example of health professionals raising the […]
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