Climate change caused 26 extra days of extreme heat last year: report May 28, 2024

Heat is the leading cause of climate-related death (Nhac NGUYEN)

By AFP - Agence France Presse

Climate change caused 26 extra days of extreme heat last year: report

The world has experienced an average of 26 extra days of extreme heat in the last 12 months, which would probably not have happened without climate change, a report said on Tuesday.

Heat is the leading cause of climate-related death and the report also points to the role of global warming in increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather around the world.

For this study, the scientists used the years 1991 to 2020 to determine which temperatures were in the top 10% in each country during that period.

They then analyzed the 12 months up to May 15, 2024, to determine how many days in that period recorded temperatures within or beyond the previous range.

Then, using peer-reviewed methods, they examined the influence of climate change on each of these excessively hot days.

They concluded that “human-caused climate change has added - on average, everywhere in the world - 26 more days of extreme heat than there would have been without it”.

The report was published by the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, the scientific network World Weather Attribution, and the non-profit research organization Climate Central.

2023 was the hottest year on record, according to the European Union's climate monitor, Copernicus.

This year, extreme heat waves have already affected areas of the globe, from Mexico to Pakistan.

The report states that in the last 12 months, around 6.3 billion people - approximately 80% of the global population - have experienced at least 31 days of what is classified as extreme heat.

In total, 76 extreme heat waves were recorded in 90 different countries on every continent except Antarctica.

Five of the most affected nations were in Latin America.

The report states that without the influence of climate change, Suriname would have recorded around 24 days of extreme heat instead of 182; Ecuador, 10 and not 180; Guyana, 33 and not 174; El Salvador, 15 and not 163; and Panama, 12 and not 149.

“Extreme heat is known to have killed tens of thousands of people in the last 12 months, but the real figure is probably in the hundreds of thousands or even millions,” the Red Cross said in a statement.

“Floods and hurricanes may be in the headlines, but the impacts of extreme heat are just as deadly,” said Jagan Chapagain, secretary general of the International Federation of the Red Cross.

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