Climate Change in the World is Tight: Monitoring Rainfalls, Floods, Soil Moisture, and Droughts in 2024
António Guterres, secretary general of the United Nations, has said that “we are teetering on a planetary tightrope. The most vulnerable are hurtling towards climate disaster if the emissions gap is not closed. The time to take action has begun.
Securing financial resources is another challenge. According to the UN Environment Program, there is a funding gap for climate change adaptation between $194 billion and $366 billion annually.
The chief scientist for the Nature Conservancy says we are still in a 1.3 C world in terms of air temperature. Most of the heat trapped by greenhouse gases is absorbed by Earth’s oceans, land and ice, she adds. By the time the average air temperature hits 1.5 C, the planet will have developed more heat and more violent storms and fires.
The study adds that changes in the water cycle intensified food shortages, impaired shipping routes, and disrupted hydropower generation in some regions. We need to be prepared for more severe extreme events. That may mean adopting stronger flood defenses, developing new food production systems and more drought-resistant water supply networks,” suggests Van Dijk.
According to the research, as a result of it, sea-surface temperatures rose, there was an increase in tropical storms and a decrease in rains in southern Africa. The formation of storms in Europe, Asia, and Brazil were caused by global warming, which caused some areas to get very high levels of rain. Widespread flash floods occurred in Afghanistan and Pakistan, while rising levels in the Yangtze and Pearl rivers in southern China damaged rice crops.
“We found rainfall records are being broken with increasing regularity. For example, record-high monthly rainfall totals were achieved 27 percent more frequently in 2024 than at the start of this century, whereas daily rainfall records were achieved 52 percent more frequently. Record lows are 38 percent more frequent and we are seeing worse extremes on both sides.
The report authors analyzed data from thousands of ground and satellite stations that collect near real-time information on critical water variables, including rainfall intensity and frequency, soil moisture, and flooding.
The Safe Zone of the United Nations: A Conversation with Gail Whiteman, an Expert on Climate Risks at the University of Exeter, UK
“It’s both a physical reality and a symbolic shock,” says Gail Whiteman, a social scientist at the University of Exeter, UK, who studies climate risks. The safe zone we thought was for humans is about to end.
The long-term goal of the United Nations is not shot if Individual years push past the 1.5 degree limit. It means we need to fight even harder to get there. They must act now.