Soaring temperatures in July had a devastating impact on the well-being of hundreds of millions of people around the world who found the month's extreme heat too much to bear, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The world's two hottest days on record were recorded last month - another indication of the extent to which greenhouse gases from human activities are changing the world's climate.
“Widespread, intense and extended heatwaves have hit every continent in the past year. At least ten countries have recorded daily temperatures of more than 50° C in more than one location. This is becoming too hot to handle,” WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said in a statement Thursday.
“Death Valley in California registered a record average monthly temperature of 42.5 °C (108.5 °F) – possibly a new record observed for anywhere in the world. Even the remote frozen ice sheets of Antarctica have been feeling the heat,” she said.
Death Valley is considered to be one of the hottest places on Earth.
Globally, July 22 was the hottest day, and July 23 was a virtual tie, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). The daily global average temperature reached 17.16°C and 17.15°C on July 22 and 23, respectively. Given the small difference, it is not possible to say with certainty which of the two days was the hottest, C3S said.
“The extreme heat, which continued throughout July after a hot June … has had really, really devastating impacts on communities, on people’s health, on ecosystems, also on economies,” WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis told journalists in Geneva on Tuesday.
“Extreme heat has a domino effect across society,” she said. “All of this is really yet another unwelcome indication, one of many, of the extent that greenhouse gases from human activities are, in fact, changing our climate.”
July 2024 was the second-warmest month globally and the second-warmest July according to C3S. It was only 0.04°C lower than the previous record set in July 2023.
WMO data show that widespread, intense and prolonged heat waves hit every continent last year, and global average temperatures set new monthly records for 13 consecutive months from June 2023 to June 2024.
The UN agency does not normally measure monthly temperature records. But Randall Cerveny, chief rapporteur for the WMO's Committee on Assessment of Climate and Weather Extremes, said: ”The record appeared to be reasonable and legitimate.”
While human activity is largely responsible for the long-term warming trend, meteorologists cite above-average temperatures over much of Antarctica as another contributing factor.
According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, this has led to anomalies of more than 10 degrees Celsius above average in some areas, and above-average temperatures in parts of the Southern Ocean.
WMO climate expert Alvaro Silva said two consecutive heat waves that hit Antarctica in the past two years have contributed to record global temperatures.
“The reason is still under research, but it seems to be related with the daily sea ice extent,” he said, noting the Antarctic daily sea ice extent in June 2024 “was the second-lowest on record. […] This follows the lowest extent that we have in Antarctica in terms of sea ice in 2023.”
Sea ice extent is the surface area of ice covering an ocean at any given time.
Speaking from the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, Silva provided a sobering regional overview of the heat waves and extreme heat events contributing to record global temperatures.
He noted that July was the warmest on record in Asia, while in Africa, he cited record-breaking temperatures in Morocco as having "a significant impact on human health and deaths."
Silva said intense heat waves in southern and southeastern Europe have “caused casualties and severe impacts on health.” At the same time, he pointed out that the fallout of heat waves in North America have been quite severe, noting that on August 1, “more than 160 million people, about half of the United States population, were under heat alert.”
WMO officials say the evidence of our rapidly warming planet underscores the urgency of the Call to Action on Extreme Heat initiative launched by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on July 25.
In issuing this call, the UN chief warned that “Earth is becoming hotter and more dangerous for everyone, everywhere” and this was posing an increased threat to “our socio-economic and environmental well-being.”
Guterres warned that extreme heat increases social inequalities, undermines development, exacerbates food insecurity and pushes people deeper into poverty, but he also recalled many other consequences of climate change.
"But let’s not forget that there are many other devastating symptoms of the climate crisis: Ever-more fierce hurricanes. Floods. Droughts. Wildfires. Rising sea levels. The list goes on," he said.
Extreme heat events are among the deadliest types of weather. Nearly 500,000 people around the world die each year from heat-related causes. And while the death toll is often underreported, thousands of deaths have already been recorded this year in the world's most affected countries.
Extreme heat has also had a major impact on agriculture, damaging crops and reducing yields.
"Extreme heat is having an extreme impact on people and planet. The world must rise to the challenge of rising temperatures," the UN chief said.
Humans can only tolerate certain combinations of heat and humidity before their bodies begin to experience heat-related health problems that can quickly become life-threatening, such as heat exhaustion, heat stroke, or heart attack.
While most media attention focuses on daily maximum temperatures, it is nighttime temperatures that pose the greatest health risks, especially for vulnerable populations. Elevated daily minimum temperatures are particularly dangerous to human health because the body cannot recover from hot days.
WMO officials stressed the importance of climate change adaptation as a life-saving measure, noting that recent estimates by WMO and the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that the global scale-up of heat health warning systems for 57 countries alone "has the potential to save an estimated 98,000 lives per year".
WMO Secretary-General Saulo said that strengthening heat early warning systems, in line with her agency's Early Warnings for All initiative, would ensure that vulnerable populations receive timely warnings so that they can take "protective actions".
But, she stressed, climate adaptation alone is not enough.
“We need to tackle the root cause and urgently reduce greenhouse gas levels, which remain at record observed levels.”
Experts predict that the effects of climate change will intensify in the coming years, leading to more extreme weather events that will also exacerbate ongoing crises, especially in protracted complex emergencies related to armed conflict, hunger, poverty and economic crises.
It is the world's most vulnerable people who are most at risk from the climate crisis, even though they have done the least to cause it.
But the climate crisis is not only exacerbating existing humanitarian emergencies. It is closely linked to an increase in humanitarian crises affecting many millions of people around the world and posing immense challenges to the world. Devastating storms, floods, historic droughts and extreme heat are killing people, destroying livelihoods, causing hunger crises and spreading disease.
One of the most tragic consequences of the climate emergency is the forced displacement and migration of people. Environmental changes such as drought, loss of agricultural land or rising sea levels are already forcing people to leave their homes. This results in internal displacement, cross-border displacement, or mass migration.
As climate change pushes global temperatures even higher, billions of people could be forced from their homes as they become uninhabitable.
Some information for this report provided by VOA.