You probably know that 2023 was a very warm year for our planet — and that this heat is continuing into 2024. And you likely know some effects of this heat in your own region or continent — in the U.S., for instance, the Canadian wildfire smoke that covered the U.S. East Coast, the Midwest’s unusually warm winter, or the recent million-plus-acre wildfire in the Texas Panhandle.
If you live in the U.S. and happen to get most of your news from national broadcast channels ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox, these big stories may be most of what you know about recent climate events. During the record-smashing year of 2023, these four TV stations spent less than 1% of their news time addressing climate change.
If you get your news from other sources, you’ll likely know more. For instance, you may have seen this stunning comment from the Deputy Director of the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, Samantha Burgess: “2023 was an exceptional year with climate records tumbling like dominoes. Not only is 2023 the warmest year on record, but it is also the first year with all days over 1°C warmer than the preindustrial period. Temperatures during 2023 likely exceed those of any period in at least the last 100,000 years.”
Still, you may sometimes lose sight of the global picture — and the critical fact that the whole planet’s climate is under stress. It’s not just the heat itself, either, but also the droughts and floods that can come with higher temperatures.
So here are some quick snapshots and summaries of what these hot months have meant around the world. In many cases, the headlines alone tell the basic story.
The oceans
- “Scientists fear planetary shift as record ocean heat enters second year.” Scott Dance, Washington Post, March 2024.
- “Corals are bleaching in every corner of the ocean, threatening its web of life.” Amudalat Ajasa, Washington Post, April 2024.
Africa
- “Analysis: Africa’s extreme weather has killed at least 15,000 people in 2023.” Daisy Dunne, Carbon Brief, December 2023.
- “Extreme drought in southern Africa leaves millions hungry.” AP News, March 2024.
- “West African heat wave: high humidity made 40°C feel like 50°C.” The Climate Centre, March 2024.
- “‘Human-induced’ climate change behind deadly Sahel heat wave: Study.” Phys.org, April 2024.
- “Kenya: heavy rains and flooding update – flash update #2 (19 April 2024).” U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Antarctica
- “After years of stability, Antarctica is losing ice.” SueEllen Campbell, Yale Climate Connections, January 2024.
Australia
- “‘Climate roller coaster’: strong weather fluctuations rocked Australia in 2023.” Australian National University, March 2024.
Eurasia
- “Record heat in Europe, Asia closes another extremely warm month for planet.” Ian Livingston, The Washington Post, April 2024.
- “Europe unprepared for rapidly growing climate risks, report finds.” Ajit Niranjan, The Guardian, March 2024. (The European Environment Agency’s risk assessment report.)
- “Asia Pacific tops list of most impacted by weather perils.” Neena Bhandari, SciDev.Net and Phys.org, March 2023. (Swiss Re’s analysis of property damage, financial losses, and need for adaptation.)
- India: “Heatwaves, intense rainfall: 2023 was yet another year of extremes, says report.” Aathira Perinchery, The Wire, March 2024.
- “China breaks heat records in 2023 as sweltering weather baked cities from north to south.” Reuters, January 2024.
- “Sweltering heat across East Asia and the Pacific puts children’s lives at risk – UNICEF.” April 2024.
- “‘Discomfort may increase’: Asia’s heat wave scorches hundreds of millions.” Saif Hasnat and Mike Ives, April 2024, New York Times. (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Thailand.)
- “Massive floods threaten tens of millions as intense rains batter southern China.” Nectar Gan, Hassan Tayir, and Martha Zhou, CNN, April 2024.
- “Deadly flash floods hit northern Iraq.” Sinan Mahmoud, The National (based in the UAE), March 2024. (Climate effects over the last three years.)
- “Dubai sees severe flooding after getting two years’ worth of rain in 24 hours.” Meredith Deliso, Daniel Peck, Ayat Al-Tawy, and Habibullah Khan, ABC News, April 2024. Also “Deluge in the United Arab Emirates.” NASA Earth Observatory, April 2024.
- Spotlight: “Barren fields and empty stomachs: Afghanistan’s long, punishing drought.” New York Times, Lynsey Addario and Victoria Kim, New York Times, March 2024. (And now: “Afghanistan floods update: Floods hit the central, central highlands, northern, northeastern, southern and western regions of Afghanistan (17 April 2024).” Reliefweb, OCHA.)
- Spotlight: “In Mongolia, a killer winter is ravaging herds and a way of life.” Zaya Delgerjargal, Yale Environment 360, March 2024.
North America
“Assessing the U.S. climate in 2023.” National Centers for Environmental Information (NOAA).
South America and the Caribbean
- “Five ways El Nino is wreaking havoc in South America.” Bryan Pietsch, Washington Post, February 2024. “Climate change has exacerbated those extremes, experts say.”
- “Six months after the heat spiked, Caribbean corals are still reeling.” Lisa S. Gardiner, Hakai Magazine, March 2024.
- “Record wildfires hit Venezuela during climate-driven Amazon drought.” Jake Spring, Mircely Guanipa, and Maria Ramirez, Reuters, April 2024.
The globe
- “Moments of hope and resilience from the climate front lines.” Future Planet Team, BBC. Reporters from five continents “describe what they witnessed as the world warmed in 2023.”
- “December 2023 Global Climate Report.” National Centers for Environmental Information, NOAA. Lots of information and clear graphics organized both by month and by year. At this link, you can set the period to 2023, annual, to see an interesting map of “selected significant climate anomalies and events.”
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