UN warns of climate crisis disasters as effects worsen

The devastating effects of the climate crisis reached new heights last year, with scores of unprecedented heatwaves, floods and storms across the globe, according to the UN's World Meteorological Organization.

- Damian Carrington

The WMO's report on 2024, the hottest year on record, sets out a trail of destruction from extreme weather that took lives, demolished buildings and ravaged vital crops. More than 800,000 people were displaced and made homeless, the highest number since records began in 2008.

The report lists 151 unprecedented extreme weather events in 2024, meaning they were worse than any ever recorded in the region. Heatwaves in Japan left hundreds of thousands of people struck down by heatstroke. Temperatures during heatwaves peaked at 49.9C at Carnarvon in Western Australia; 49.7C in Tabas, Iran; and 48.5C in a nationwide heatwave in Mali.

Record rains in Italy led to floods; landslides and electricity blackouts; torrents destroyed thousands of homes in Senegal; and flash floods in Pakistan and Brazil ruined crops.