Climate Crisis Caused Several Additional Weeks of Dangerous Temperatures

🧊 2024 Arctic Report Card

The Arctic continues to warm faster than the global average. The 2024 Arctic Report Card from NOAA highlights record-breaking and dramatic changes. In 2024, Arctic annual surface air temperatures ranked second warmest since 1900. The last 9 years are the 9 warmest on record. In September 2024, the extent of sea ice was the 6th lowest in the 45 year record. All 18 of the lowest September minimum ice extents have occurred in the last 18 years. The Arctic tundra region has shifted from storing carbon in the soil to becoming a carbon dioxide source due to wildfire activity. Alaskan permafrost temperatures were the second warmest on record. Despite above average snow accumulation, the snow season was the shortest in 26 years over portions of central and eastern Arctic Canada. Greenland Ice Sheet mass was the lowest since 2013. Adaptation is increasingly necessary and Indigenous knowledge and community-led research programs are essential to understand and respond to these rapid Arctic changes.

NOAA in the Arctic

🌡️ Climate Crisis Caused Several Additional Weeks of Dangerous Temperatures

The effects of human-caused global warming caused an additional six weeks of dangerously hot days in 2024 for the average person. The extreme heat supercharged the fatal impact of heatwaves around the world. The Caribbean and Pacific islands were hit the hardest, and many endured about 150 more days of dangerous heat than they would have without global heating. Nearly half of the world’s countries experienced at least two months of high-risk temperatures. Indonesia had 122 days of additional dangerous heat, as did Singapore and many Central American states. In Saudi Arabia, people endured 70 additional hot days. Even the least affected places such as the UK, US, and Australia saw three extra weeks of elevated temperatures. Researchers say it is possible that uncounted millions of people have died as a result of the global heating in recent decades. Most countries do not report on heatwaves, which means the numbers we have are already a gross underestimate.

Damian Carrington, The Guardian

⛽️ Fossil Fuel Companies Fined for Climate Change Damages in New York

On Thursday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law that requires companies with substantial greenhouse gas emissions to pay into a state fund for infrastructure projects meant to repair or avoid future damage from climate change. Oil and gas companies will now contribute to the cost of repairs after extreme weather events and resiliency projects such as coastal wetland restoration and upgrades to roads, bridges, and water drainage systems. The biggest emitters of greenhouse gases between 2000 and 2018 would be subjected to the fines. Vermont put a similar law in place earlier this year, and was the first state to do so.

The Associated Press via ABC News

If you’re new here, or if you missed any of our other newsletters in December, here is a recap:

• Climate Change Will Lead to Wetter Winters in the U.S.

• A Change in Rice Farming Had Unexpected Consequences in India

• Your Daily Coffee Could Become More Expensive Due to Climate Change

• How Climate Change Affects Christmas Tree Production