A year of extreme weather that challenged billions

This was a year of heat – temperature records were broken on land and in the sea multiple times.

In April dozens of countries, from Lebanon in the west to Cambodia in the east, suffered a prolonged heatwave, bringing the risk of dehydration and heat stroke.

But Julie Arrighi, director of programmes at the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, said that the impacts are not felt equally.

“Young people and those over 65 particularly those with pre-existing health conditions [are at risk] – they are physiologically less able to cope with extreme heat,” she said.

She said people in conflict settings also suffered disproportionately because of their housing situations, including living in temporary shelters, which can magnify heat, or a disrupted water system.

Research has shown, external that populations over time can adjust to higher temperatures, but even taking this into account scientists at WWA and Climate Central estimate in 2024 the world’s populations experienced 41 additional days of dangerous heat – compared to a world without climate change.

Dr Friederike Otto, lead of WWA and Senior Lecturer in Climate Science at Imperial College London, said: “The impacts of fossil fuel warming have never been clearer or more devastating than in 2024.

“We are living in a dangerous new era – extreme weather caused unrelenting suffering.”