Jubilee Post News & Views
Seema Javed
Image above: Climate Central’s Climate Shift Index (CSI): It quantified the local influence of climate change on daily temperatures across the globe. Using a peer-reviewed scientific methodology, the index shows how much human-induced climate change shifted the odds of daily temperatures that people experienced locally. For example, a CSI level 3, 4 and 5 above (bright and dark red) indicates that local temperatures were at least 3 times more likely because of climate change between July 21 and 22.
On July 21, several cities in Japan recorded temperatures as high as 37°C, with over 200 locations facing record-breaking heat. Record temperatures were registered in Indonesia and China, where companies suspended production due to brutal heat. In India and Pakistan, heat over 40°C combined
with high humidity of up to 82% resulted in life-threatening conditions and heat indexes above 55°C, leading to the death of an officer during their patrol. So far this year, thousands of heatstroke cases have been reported in India, with at least 110 heat-related deaths, a number likely underestimated.
Gulf countries experienced extreme heat indexes exceeding 60°C. Temperatures reached 42°C in Iran and 45°C in Dubai, while heat indexes – factoring in humidity – reached 61°C in Abu Dhabi. Nighttime temperatures remained above 30°C in several regions, including in Egypt, where increased electricity demand led to temporary blackouts during the hot nights. Record-breaking nighttime temperatures have severe consequences to human health, as hot nights prevent recovery from heat and increase the risk of physical and mental health problems.
Temperatures in parts of Europe exceeded 45°C, while in Morocco and Algeria, they were near 50°C. Several cities in southern and eastern Europe faced red alerts due to heat, wildfire, and strain on power grids. Greece recorded its earliest-ever heatwave, experiencing 11 consecutive days of temperatures above 40°C – other affected countries are Italy, Croatia, and Albania.
In other regions, record heat fueled fires. Record wildfires in Pantanal – the world’s largest wetland, between Bolivia, Paraguay and Brazil – continued to destroy the wildlife, having burned over 77,000 square km of land so far in 2024, twice as much as the previous record. In California, large fires, fueled by a scorching heatwave, spread and forced people to evacuate from their homes.
122 oil, gas, coal and cement producers are responsible for around three-quarters of the warming the world has experienced so far. Major fossil fuel companies, including Exxon, Shell, BP, Total, and Chevron, are facing legal action aimed at holding them accountable for the costs of climate change and for allegedly misleading consumers about their role in causing it
As confirmed again in the most recent report by the IPCC, the UN’s climate science panel, human activity is responsible for all of the warming that has been experienced since the mid-19th Century:
“The likely range of human-induced change in global surface temperature in 2010–2019 relative to 1850–1900 is 0.8°C to 1.3°C, with a central estimate of 1.07°C, encompassing the best estimate of observed warming for that period, which is 1.06°C.
The IPCC also makes clear that fossil fuel use is the main factor driving global warming: “In 2019, around 79% of global GHG emissions came from energy, industry, transport and buildings, and 22% came from agriculture, forestry and other land use.
