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St. Kitts and Nevis – The ripple effects of greenhouse gas emissions are becoming increasingly apparent around the world as small island developing States strive to gain the necessary respect from industrialized nations over the impacts of climate change.
In July, the world experienced its hottest day on record, and scientists now believe this month could become the hottest month on record. Claire Nullis of the World Meteorological Organization stressed at a press conference on Wednesday, August 7, 2024 that rising temperatures are having a domino effect on hundreds of millions of people around the world.
“We’ve seen a hot June that has continued into July, with very, very devastating impacts on communities, on people’s health, on ecosystems and on economies. So, the extreme heat really has a domino effect across society. The hottest day globally, at least in recent records, has already arrived. It was (July 22). And all of this is really just another unwelcome sign, one of many signs that greenhouse gases are really changing our climate.”
July 22, 2024 was the hottest day globally, and Nullis noted that this trend has continued over the past year. She stressed that the ongoing heatwave highlights the urgent need to take action, as called for by UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his Call to Action on Extreme Heat.
“Specifically, the global average temperature over the past 13 months (June 2023 to June 2024) set new monthly records. We are still waiting for the data for July, which will confirm whether this trend of extreme anomalies continues in July. This highlights the urgency of the recent call by the UN Secretary-General to take action on extreme heat. If you remember, when he made this call to action, he said that the Earth is getting hotter and hotter and more and more dangerous for everyone around the world.”
Meteorologists point out that temperatures in some countries have continued to exceed 50 degrees Celsius. Such extreme heat poses a significant risk to the health of all residents, especially the elderly and those taking certain medications.
“Over the past year, at least 10 countries have recorded multiple locations with daily average temperatures exceeding 50 degrees Celsius. So today here it’s probably in the 20s. If you add another 20 degrees Celsius, as you can imagine, it’s too hot for the human body. Death Valley in California is the hottest place in the world. It does hold the record for the hottest place in the world for a long time. The monthly average temperature recorded there was 42.5 degrees Celsius, or 108.5 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the sum of the daytime and nighttime temperatures for the entire month. According to our Special Rapporteur, Mr. Randy Sevigny, that does appear to be a new monthly record, although we won’t be investigating in detail. Alvaro will tell you that even the frozen regions of Antarctica are really, really, really feeling the heat.”
Expanding heat health warning systems in 57 countries alone could save about 98,000 lives each year, according to officials from the World Meteorological Organization and the World Health Organization. But they warned that “climate adaptation alone is not enough” and stressed that addressing the “root causes” was crucial.
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