Climate Change has Added 41 Days of “Dangerous Heat” to 2024

The Hottest Year on Record 

As 2024, the hottest year in recorded history, wraps up, researchers have worked hard to figure out exactly the extent to which climate change has changed Earth’s weather and temperature patterns. Notably, researchers for the World Weather Attribution (WWA) have calculated that this year alone, the average person has experienced an additional 41 days of “dangerous heat” that wouldn’t have been dangerous if it weren’t for human-induced climate change. “Dangerous heat” days were defined in the WWA report as any day that placed in the hottest 10 percentile of days during the 1991-2020 range. As one may expect, most of these dangerously hot days occurred in areas near the equator. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) took the brunt of the impact, experiencing about 130 days of dangerous heat, which was far more than the global average of 41 days. SIDS continue to be one of the highest risk groups from the impacts of climate change, including sea level rise, and 2024 was no exception for the worsening conditions around the equator. 

Dangerous Heat and Human Health

As a result of climate change, heat-related deaths have been on the rise. Heat related deaths increased by about 85% between the periods of 2000-2004 and 2017-2021. When high temperatures make it more difficult for the body to regulate internal temperature, the body becomes much more prone to heatstroke and heat exhaustion. However, if the body tries to cool itself down again, strain is placed on the heart and kidneys. Because of this strain on the body, extreme heat can often worsen chronic conditions that people may already be struggling with in these organs. Eventually, if the body tires out and loses its ability to fight back and regulate internal temperature, conditions such as heat cramps, heatstroke, and hyperthermia will persist. These health complications can be fatal if medical intervention isn’t quick and effective enough, and climate change has ensured that heat related deaths are on the rise, especially in developing nations and SIDS. 

Indirect Consequences of Warming 

Alongside the finding about the 41 additional days of dangerous heat that climate change was responsible for in 2024, the WWA’s report included a specific focus on 29 extreme weather events that took place in 2024. Their research concluded that 26 out of those 29 events had been intensified by the effects of human-induced climate change, showing that climate change is not only an issue for warmer areas, but for the whole world. The extreme weather events in the study had a global range and were devastating, responsible for about 3,700 deaths and millions of displacements. In addition to exacerbating extreme weather, global warming has caused damaging ripple effects such as rising sea levels. Climate change is the primary driver of rising sea levels. Warming from human-induced climate change causes both land and sea ice to melt, although land ice melt is what’s responsible for sea level rise. When sea ice melts, it doesn’t necessarily add to the volume of water in the ocean, because the ice was in the water to begin with. Although sea ice melt brings up a host of issues, such as trapping animals like polar bears, land ice melting and then flowing into the ocean is the main problem for sea level rise. As Earth’s temperatures continue to increase due to emissions of greenhouse gases, land ice is melting at a faster rate than ever before. As land ice melts and sea level rise becomes a new threat for the population living in coastal areas, there are several consequences for human health. These include threatened infrastructure, compromising drinking water supplies, and displacement of people in coastal areas. But although 2024 may have been a discouraging year for climate change, there is still hope for 2025. 

Works Cited

“41 more days of "dangerous heat" due to climate change.” The Portugal News, 2024, https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/2024-12-29/41-more-days-of-dangerous-heat-due-to-climate-change/94512. Accessed 30 December 2024.

“Heat and health.” World Health Organization (WHO), 28 May 2024, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-heat-and-health. Accessed 30 December 2024.

Igini, Martina. “Climate Change Added 41 Additional Dangerous Heat Days in 2024.” Earth.Org, 27 December 2024, https://earth.org/climate-change-added-41-additional-days-of-dangerous-heat-in-2024-researchers-say-amid-hottest-year-on-record/. Accessed 30 December 2024.

“Sea level rise is a global threat.” The World Economic Forum, 20 September 2024, https://www.weforum.org/stories/2024/09/rising-sea-levels-global-threat/. Accessed 30 December 2024.

“Temperature-related Death and Illness.” National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/programs/climatechange/health_impacts/heat. Accessed 30 December 2024.