Your support helps us to tell the storySupport NowFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.The world suffered an extra 41 days of dangerous heat in 2024 which fueled catastrophic disasters that scientists say would have been virtually impossible without the climate crisis.Scientists also say that 26 of the 29 most severe disasters this year were intensified by the climate crisis driven by the use of fossil fuels. The disasters, which included hurricanes, floods, wildfires and droughts, mark a dangerous “new normal” driven by rising global temperatures, according to a new report published by World Weather Attribution, or WWA, and Climate Central late last week.“The impacts of fossil fuel warming have never been clearer or more devastating than in 2024,” Dr Friederike Otto, co-founder of WWA and senior lecturer in climate science at Imperial College London, said. “Extreme weather killed thousands of people, forced millions from their homes, and caused unrelenting suffering. We know exactly what we need to do to stop things from getting worse: stop burning fossil fuels.”This year saw the world experience recordbreaking heat, with the hottest day in history recorded on 22 July. The additional 41 days of dangerous heat – defined as temperatures in the top 10 per cent of the 1991-2020 baseline – exposed many millions of people to conditions that threaten human health, particularly in vulnerable regions.The volunteer team of international scientists that prepared the new report compared daily temperatures around the world in 2024 to temperatures that would have been expected without the climate crisis. They found that some regions saw as many as 150 days or more of extreme heat due to the climate crisis. “Heat waves are by far the deadliest extreme event,” Dr Otto said. She added that “if we cannot communicate convincingly” that a lot of people are dying “it’s much harder to raise this awareness”. This year is set to be the hottest on record, beating 2023, and may mark the first time the global average temperature exceeded 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. Reaching this milestone serves as a
Lun. Gen 6th, 2025
