Last month saw another extreme weather milestone with the world’s hottest day on recent record registered on 22 July – yet another indication of the extent to which greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are changing our climate, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported on Wednesday.
Global average temperatures for 13 consecutive months from June 2023 to June 2024 also set new monthly records.
50℃ barrier broken
“Widespread, intense and extended heat waves have hit every continent in the past year. At least ten countries have recorded daily temperatures of more than 50 degrees Celsius in more than one location,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.
These trends underline the urgency of the Call to Action on Extreme Heat, a new initiative launched in July by UN Secretary-General António Guterres to enhance international cooperation to address extreme heat.
“Earth is becoming hotter and more dangerous for everyone, everywhere,” stressed the UN Chief.
Deadly impacts
Extreme heat is causing a ripple effect felt right across society.
An annual 1℃ increase in temperature leads to a 9.1 per cent increase in poverty. Moreover, 12 per cent of all food produced is lost due to a lack of cooling and working hours equivalent to 80 million full-time jobs could be lost due to heat stress by 2030.
The consequences have become deathly. Nearly half a million heat-related deaths occurred each year from 2000 to 2019.
Taken together, extreme heat is tearing through economies, widening inequalities, and derailing the future of the Sustainable Development Goals.
“This is becoming too hot to handle,” said Ms. Saulo.
Call to Action on Extreme Heat
The UN chief launched the Call to Action to mitigate the dire environmental and socioeconomic consequences that are already evident.
The initiative emphasises the need for concerted effort in four critical areas: caring for the vulnerable, protecting workers, boosting resilience of economies and societies using data and science, and limiting temperature rise to 1.5℃ by phasing out fossil fuels and scaling up investment in renewable energy.
It brings together the expertise and perspectives of ten speci
alised UN entities, underscoring the diverse multi-sectoral impacts of extreme heat on human health, lives, and livelihoods.
“The WMO community is committed to responding to the UN Secretary-General’s Call to Action with better heat-health early warnings and action plans,” said Ms. Saulo, adding that recent estimates indicate that the global scale-up of heat health-warning systems for 57 countries alone has the potential to save around 98,000 lives per year.
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Wow, another Crisis like never before seen in history. We need to act now. Take away everyone’s vehicles (excluding the private jets of the people preaching this).
Wow the end is near! We shall raise the taxes and create new ones! Above all we shall give up our rights and freedom.
Let’s the bureaucrats save the planet. They have been so successful already fixing the roads!
please: stop the climate BS. We do not buy it anymore.
Air temperature or ground temperature measurements?
Exposing the climate change doom and gloom merchants.
MORE GLOBAL “GREEN” TAXES INCOMING
I don’t know if climate change is a significant thing or not, but I believe that we’re capable of living sustainably without the need to hurt people in any way. We just need to pause and look at everything that has been done in the past, and use the best methods for each area moving forward. E.g. include greenery in cities – no more concrete jungles, use renewable wood such as bamboo for furniture, use safe renewable energy sources, use mass transit such as electric trams in cities, try to make electric cars safer and more environmentally friendly etc. etc. etc.
The new #buzz_word eating away at the HUEman psyche, like a buzz saw or killing HUEmans like road kill and leaving them for the BUZZards is….🥁🥁🥁🪘🛢️🛢️🛢️🛢️🛢️🥁🥁🥁drum roll please…
#DESERTIFICATION…
this is where they (greedy oligarchs, plutocrats and media) make arable land barren, dry and deserted. Everyone is fully aware of the negatives of deforestation, fossil fuel mining especially those who use the many products and byproducts which are causing the atmospheric temperature to rise thus affect, the surface temperature.
In the words of George Bush Jr, or a similar version…
“Fool me twice, you can only fool me once. Or is it, fool you twice, fool me twice, then nobody gets fooled or fool a fool, you cannot fool a fool, twice on the same topic.
Just, fool me and keep on stepping, lying and stealing!
Jumbee_Picknee aka Ras Smood
De’ole Dutty Peg_👣Garrat_Bastard
Vere C. Edwards
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