Heat vs Humanity, Daily Brief June 26, 2024

As the impacts of global warming become ever more apparent, heat has hit the headlines around the world these days like never before.

In Saudi Arabia this month, more than 1,300 people have died during the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. Heat stress has been a major contributing factor to the death toll, with temperatures soaring beyond 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit).

Across the US, some 65 million people are facing heat alerts as another “heat dome” has pushed temperatures in some places over 50C (122F), as well. Heat waves are deadlier than hurricanes, floods, and tornados combined in the US, and heat-related deaths have been increasing, with more than 2,300 in 2023.

In both places – Saudi Arabia and the US – human harms have been exacerbated by authorities failing to make appropriate preparations or refusing to address longstanding social issues, ignoring that some people are more vulnerable to heat-related health problems than others.

In other words, the deadly dangers were predictable and avoidable, if only governments acted in time and made saving lives their priority.

In many ways, it’s the same with global warming as a whole. The problem is known, as is what’s needed to save lives – but governments are failing to act nonetheless.

Let’s review the science. Global temperatures have been rising because humans have been pumping too many greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, in particular carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels.

Oil, gas, and coal had been just sitting there, holding carbon in the ground for millions of years. Then, we came along and extracted and burned them, releasing that carbon as carbon dioxide into the air.

The result is, over the past ten years, the planet has been about 1.2 degrees Celsius warmer than it was in the pre-industrial 1800s. That’s the hottest decade on record. And 2023 was the worst year ever, with global average near-surface temperature reaching 1.45 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level.

In the 2015 Paris Agreement, governments aimed to limit warming to 1.5 degrees. The vast majority of climate scientists now say this target will not be met, and a rise of 2.5 degrees Celsius, or worse, is more likely.

In short, humanity has been heating up the planet, and we are missing international targets to try to get things under control, or at least make the impacts more manageable – or at the very least, a bit less dystopian.

Governments need to commit to rapidly phasing out all fossil fuel extraction and use. Specifically, this means stopping authorization for all new fossil fuel projects, and ending government subsidies and international finance, for oil, gas, and coal development.

Let’s be clear: this isn’t about “saving the planet”; it’s about saving people. We need to have a planet that’s habitable for humans. This means our authorities taking decisions, locally and globally, that prioritize human lives: in Saudi Arabia, in the US, and around the world.