2024: Climate Change Added 41 Days of Dangerous Heat, Scientists Call for Swift Transition

Every December, people ask us how severe the year’s extreme weather events were. To answer this question, we’ve partnered with Climate Central to produce a report that reviews some of the most significant events and highlights findings from our attribution studies. It also includes new analysis looking at the number of dangerous heat days added by climate change in 2024 and global resolutions for 2025 to work toward a safer, more sustainable world.
Key messages

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 study highlighted how climate change is forcing millions to brave lethal heat for a longer period of time even as high emissions continue to warm the planet at an alarming rate. If the world does not rapidly transition away from fossil fuels, the world is likely to see more of such “dangerous heat days”, the scientists warned.

“The world is not cutting emissions and preparing for climate change quickly enough. The consequences are record-breaking extreme weather events that cause deaths, displacement and loss of livelihoods,” Ben Clarke, a researcher at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College London, said.