Numerous regions worldwide have experienced record-breaking temperatures, with many areas surpassing previous heat records by significant margins.
Since the beginning of the year, 15 heat records have been broken as the weather becomes more extreme and climate breakdown intensifies.
Maximiliano Herrera, who keeps an archive of extreme events, has said that the unprecedented number of records in the first six months was astonishing. He said: "This amount of extreme heat events is beyond anything ever seen or even thought possible before".
"The months from February 2024 to July 2024 have been the most record-breaking for every statistic".
The extreme heat has had devastating effects on ecosystems. Marine life, in particular, has suffered greatly, with reports of mass die-offs of sea creatures due to rising water temperatures. Terrestrial ecosystems are also under stress, with many species struggling to survive in the hotter conditions.
The agricultural sector has been hit hard by the extreme heat. Crops are failing, and livestock is suffering from heat stress, leading to concerns about food security and the economic impact on farmers. The heat has also exacerbated drought conditions in many areas, further straining water resources.
The heatwaves have posed serious health risks, leading to an increase in heat-related illnesses and deaths. Vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and those with those with pre-existing health conditions, are particularly at risk.
Scientists attribute these extreme heat events to a combination of human-induced climate change and natural climate patterns like El Niño, a warming of the tropical Pacific Ocean surface that is associated with higher temperatures in many parts of the world. The El Niño has been fading since February of this year, but this has brought little relief. The warming climate is making heatwaves more frequent, intense, and longer-lasting.
“Far from dwindling with the end of El Niño, records are falling at even much faster pace now compared to late 2023,” said Herrera.
New ground is broken every day at a local level. On some days, thousands of monitoring stations set new records of monthly maximums or minimums. The latter is particularly punishing as high night-time temperatures mean people and ecosystems have no time to recover from the relentless heat. In late July, for example, China’s Yueyang region sweltered though an unprecedentedly elevated low of 32C during its dark hours, with dangerously high humidity.
