The UN secretary-general António Guterres has launched a new initiative, the Call to Action on Extreme Heat, which brings together the expertise and perspectives of 10 specialized UN entities to take action on the impacts of extreme heat on human health, lives and livelihoods.
The initiative was launched in a week which saw the three warmest days recorded on Earth in recent history, according to one of the datasets that the WMO uses to monitor the climate.
On July 23, 2024, the daily global average temperature reached a new record high at 17.16°C in the ERA5 dataset from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). This dataset extends back to 1940. On July 24, the preliminary value was 17.15°C. On July 21, the temperature record was 17.09°C. All three days were warmer than the previous record of 17.08°C, set only last year on July 6, 2023.
Addressing the impact of extreme heat
The Call to Action on Extreme Heat, which is supported by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), is a first-of-its-kind joint report underscoring the diverse multisectoral impact of extreme heat. National and local governments and businesses that are the most impacted around the world also supported the launch of the Call to Action.
“Earth is becoming hotter and more dangerous for everyone, everywhere,” said Guterres. “Billions of people are facing an extreme heat epidemic – wilting under increasingly deadly heatwaves, with temperatures topping 50ºC around the world. That’s 122ºF. And halfway to boiling.
“The World Meteorological Organization, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and others have documented a rapid rise in the scale, intensity, frequency and duration of extreme heat events,” he added.
Extreme heat is increasingly tearing through economies, widening inequalities, undermining the Sustainable Development Goals and killing people. It is estimated to kill almost half a million people a year – that’s about 30 times more than tropical cyclones, according to Guterres.
The Call to Action on Extreme Heat says there must be a concerted effort to enhance international cooperation to address extreme heat in four critical areas:
- Caring for the vulnerable
- Protecting workers
- Boosting the resilience of economies and societies using data and science
- Limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C by phasing out fossil fuels and scaling up investment in renewable energy.
“Our Earth is running an unprecedently high fever,” said WMO secretary-general Celeste Saulo. “In addition to this week’s three new global daily temperature records, we have seen monthly temperature records for 13 successive months.
“Widespread, intense and extended heatwaves have hit communities on every continent. At least 10 countries have recorded temperatures of more than 50°C in more than one location this year. Many dozens of locations have seen daytime maximum temperatures of more than 40°C and dangerously high minimum overnight temperatures,” she continued.
“The WMO community is working hard with many partners to strengthen heat-health action plans and early warnings to treat the symptoms of this fever. But, in addition, we need to tackle the root cause and urgently reduce greenhouse gas levels, which remain at record observed levels,” Saulo added.
Potential to save lives
The Call to Action stresses the need to establish and bolster heat early warning systems in line with the Early Warnings for All initiative, ensuring at-risk populations receive timely alerts that include information on protective actions to undertake and sources of assistance. Strengthening the capacities of national meteorological and hydrological services (NMHSs) would be critical, it says.
The Call to Action does highlight some good news – heat illness and deaths are preventable and many impacts can be minimized with targeted economic and social policies and concrete actions, including public awareness campaigns. It cited recent estimates produced by the WHO and WMO that the global scale-up of heat-health warning systems for 57 countries alone has the potential to save an estimated 98,314 lives per year.
“The world needs a strategy to deal with heat that serves to mobilize governments, policymakers and all stakeholders to act, prevent and reduce heat risk; to increase resilience to heat; to manage extreme heat crises; and to mitigate its worst impacts,” the Call to Action said.
Discover more about the Call to Action here and read an exclusive interview with WMO secretary-general Celeste Saulo in the January 2024 issue of Meteorological Technology International.
