Climate Emergency Reached Tipping Point In 2024 As Extreme Weather Escalated Across India

Climate Emergency Reached Tipping Point In 2024 As Extreme Weather Escalated Across India

From devastating heatwaves to catastrophic floods, the millions of lives lost in the spate of extreme weather events this year have proved that the climate emergency reached a tipping point in 2024. The year is on track to become the warmest-ever in recorded history, though it’s yet to be officially declared.

Countries in the Global South, including India, remain at the forefront of this unprecedented warming, bearing the heftiest cost, despite contributing the least to it. According to the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) database, India lost over 3,238 lives in extreme weather events in the first nine months of 2024 alone, which also affected 3.2 million ha of crops, destroyed 235,862 houses, and killed 9,457 livestock.

Deadly heat waves battered the country from April to June, upending lives and livelihoods. The searing conditions swept Odisha and West Bengal consecutively for over 15 days in April. June ended as the hottest since 1901. Short bursts of intense rains wreaked havoc in major cities. Over 228 mm rainfall fell over the national capital overnight on June 28 – the highest 24-hour rainfall since 1936.

Torrential monsoon rains triggered floods in Gujarat, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Assam. A ‘rare’ cyclone Asna developed in the midst of the monsoon season, which had its genesis over the land and barrelled towards Gujarat to emerge into the Arabian Sea. Only three cyclones have formed in the Arabian Sea in August in the last 100 years.

October ended as the hottest on record in 123 years, as the string of abnormally high temperatures continued marking November as the third-warmest since 1901. Global forecasts of emergence of La Nina in August-September also failed as sea-surface temperatures remained above-normal.

DISAPPOINTING YEAR FOR CLIMATE JUSTICE

As disasters intensified, developing countries united to demand at least $1.3 trillion per year by 2035 in climate finance from the developed nations to address the increasing loss and damage, and adapt and mitigate climate change. They pinned their hopes on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) to replace the previous unfulfilled pledge of $100 billion by 2020.

So, when the year’s biggest UN Climate Summit ended with a new climate finance deal of just “$300 billion by 2035”, the disappointment was palpable. India spoke out for Global South when it firmly opposed the new finance target at the recently concluded COP29, calling it an “optical illusion”. The agreement was met with objections and walkouts by several nations and blocs who criticised it for utter lack of equity and climate justice.

Experts said the inadequate finance deal finalised at COP29 took the world several steps back from what could have been a turning point in climate action. It was too little, too late.

GEARING UP FOR NEW CLIMATE ACTION PLANS IN 2025

But as 2025 approaches, all eyes are on the developed nations again, with the deadline to submit their updated national climate action plans set in February. The United Kingdom (UK) has already pledged to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 81% by 2035, compared to 1990 levels.

But the year ended with the world’s biggest historical emitter, the US, announcing its revised target, and committing to cut emissions by 61-66% below 2005 levels by 2035. The announcement came from the outgoing President Joe Biden, even as President-elect Donald Trump made it clear that he intends to withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.

“Under the Biden administration, the US peaked in crude oil production, averaging 13.4 million barrels per day in August 2024. Despite being the largest crude oil producer and the largest exporter of natural gas, the country shows little intention of shifting away from fossil fuels. This callousness should dim any optimism sparked by any climate announcement that the country makes,” said Trishant Dev, Programme Officer, CSE Climate Change team.

The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has made it clear that the world needs bolder, ambitious climate action plans and global greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 43 per cent by 2030 to limit the warming to 1.5℃. However, the latest studies show the world is off-track in meeting that target. It is crucial that developed nations take the lead in bridging this gap at the earliest, because failing to do so in 2025 will put the world on track for a temperature increase of 3℃, which would be disastrous.Irctc down: Why there is an outage at Indian railways ticket booking site

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