Over 3k killed in 26 'extreme weather events'

Climate change contributed to the loss of at least 3,700 lives and the displacement of millions of people in just 26 out of 219 that met the criteria of "extreme or impactful" weather events across the world in 2024, according to an analysis by two climate research organisations.

- Jayashree Nandi

NEW DELHI:

"It's likely the total number of people killed in extreme weather events intensified by climate change this year is in the tens, or hundreds of thousands," said a report by World Weather Attribution (WWA) and Climate Central on Friday.

These incidents analysed represented only a fraction of the 219 events meeting the criteria for extreme weather this year, researchers said.

Further, human-induced global warming also added an average of 41 extra days of dangerous heat worldwide, exposing millions to life-threatening conditions. These additional dangerous heat days accounted for the top 10% of warmest temperatures recorded from 1991 to 2020.

"Climate change is exposing millions more people to dangerous temperatures for longer periods of the year as fossil fuel emissions heat the climate. If the world does not rapidly transition away from oil, gas and coal, the number of dangerous heat days will continue to increase each year and threaten public health," the report warned.