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→‎Measurements and statistics: 21 March: a study published in ''Communications Earth & Environment'' concluded that higher temperatures increase inflation persistently over twelve months in both higher- and lower-income countries, with inflation pressures largest at low latitudes and having strong seasonality at high latitudes.<ref name=CommsEandE_20240321>
→‎Natural events and phenomena: 27 March: a study published in ''Nature'' concluded that accelerated melting of ice in Greenland and Antarctica has decreased Earth's rotational velocity, affecting Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) adjustments and causing problems for computer networks that rely on UTC.<ref name=Nature_20240327>
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* 28 February: a study published in ''[[European Geosciences Union#Journals|Weather and Climate Dynamics]]'' statistically linked recent Arctic ice loss with warmer and drier weather in Europe, enabling "an enhanced predictability of European summer weather at least a winter in advance".<ref name=WeatherClimateDynamics_20240228>{{cite journal |last1=Oltmanns |first1=Marilena |last2=Holliday |first2=N. Penny |last3=Screen |first3=James |last4=Moat |first4=Ben I. |last5=Josey |first5=Simon A. |last6=Evans |first6=D. Gwyn |last7=Bacon |first7=Sheldon |title=European summer weather linked to North Atlantic freshwater anomalies in preceding years |journal=Weather and Climate Dynamics |date=28 February 2024 |volume=5 |pages=109–132 |doi=10.5194/wcd-5-109-2024 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2024WCD.....5..109O |url=https://wcd.copernicus.org/articles/5/109/2024/}}</ref>
* 28 February: a study published in ''[[European Geosciences Union#Journals|Weather and Climate Dynamics]]'' statistically linked recent Arctic ice loss with warmer and drier weather in Europe, enabling "an enhanced predictability of European summer weather at least a winter in advance".<ref name=WeatherClimateDynamics_20240228>{{cite journal |last1=Oltmanns |first1=Marilena |last2=Holliday |first2=N. Penny |last3=Screen |first3=James |last4=Moat |first4=Ben I. |last5=Josey |first5=Simon A. |last6=Evans |first6=D. Gwyn |last7=Bacon |first7=Sheldon |title=European summer weather linked to North Atlantic freshwater anomalies in preceding years |journal=Weather and Climate Dynamics |date=28 February 2024 |volume=5 |pages=109–132 |doi=10.5194/wcd-5-109-2024 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2024WCD.....5..109O |url=https://wcd.copernicus.org/articles/5/109/2024/}}</ref>
* 5 March: in a non-unanimous vote, the [[International Union of Geological Sciences|IUGS]]'s Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy voted against declaring the [[Anthropocene]] a new [[Geologic time scale#Divisions of geologic time|geological epoch]].<ref name=CNN_20240305/> The vote leaves open more informally classifying human impacts as a geological ''event'' that unfolds gradually over a long period.<ref name=CNN_20240305>{{cite news |last1=Hung |first1=Katie |title=Are we in the Anthropocene Epoch? Not so fast, geologists say |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/05/world/anthropocene-epoch-rejected-scn/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=5 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240305192331/https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/05/world/anthropocene-epoch-rejected-scn/index.html |archive-date=5 March 2024 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 5 March: in a non-unanimous vote, the [[International Union of Geological Sciences|IUGS]]'s Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy voted against declaring the [[Anthropocene]] a new [[Geologic time scale#Divisions of geologic time|geological epoch]].<ref name=CNN_20240305/> The vote leaves open more informally classifying human impacts as a geological ''event'' that unfolds gradually over a long period.<ref name=CNN_20240305>{{cite news |last1=Hung |first1=Katie |title=Are we in the Anthropocene Epoch? Not so fast, geologists say |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/05/world/anthropocene-epoch-rejected-scn/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=5 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240305192331/https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/05/world/anthropocene-epoch-rejected-scn/index.html |archive-date=5 March 2024 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 27 March: a study published in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' concluded that accelerated melting of ice in Greenland and Antarctica has decreased Earth's rotational velocity, affecting [[Coordinated Universal Time]] (UTC) adjustments and causing problems for computer networks that rely on UTC.<ref name=Nature_20240327>{{cite journal |last1=Agnew |first1=Duncan Car |title=A global timekeeping problem postponed by global warming |journal=Nature |date=27 March 2024 |doi=10.1038/s41586-024-07170-0 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07170-0}}</ref>


==Actions and goal statements==
==Actions and goal statements==

Revision as of 05:37, 1 April 2024

List of years in climate change
+...

This article documents events, research findings, scientific and technological advances, and human actions to measure, predict, mitigate, and adapt to the effects of global warming and climate change—during the year 2024.

Summaries

  • 19 March: "The climate crisis is the defining challenge that humanity faces." —Prof. Celeste Saulo, Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, in State of the Climate 2023.[1]

Measurements and statistics

  • 5 February: a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences proposed adding a "Category 6" to the Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale to adequately convey storms' risk to the public, the researchers noting a number of storms have already achieved that intensity.[2]
  • 5 February: a study published in Nature Climate Change, based on 300 years of ocean mixed-layer temperature records preserved in sclerosponge skeletons, concluded that modern global warming began in the 1860s (over 80 years earlier than indicated by sea surface temperature records) and was already 1.7 °C above pre-industrial levels by 2020—a figure 0.5 °C higher than IPCC estimates.[3]
  • February (reported): a Copernicus Climate Change Service analysis indicated that from February 2023 through January 2024, the running average global average air temperature exceeded 1.5 °C for the first time.[4] This single-year breach does not violate the 1.5 °C long-term average agreed on in the 2015 Paris Agreement.[4]
  • 13 February: a study published in Current Issues in Tourism concluded that U.S. average ski seasons (incl. snowmaking) decreased from 1960–1979 to 2000–2019 by between 5.5 and 7.1 days per season, with direct economic losses estimated at $252 million annually.[5]
  • 18 March (reported): the University of Maine's Climate Reanalyzer analyzed NOAA data and concluded that the average global ocean surface temperature reached a record daily high in mid-March 2023, and remained at unprecedented high levels every day since.[6]
  • 21 March: a study published in Communications Earth & Environment concluded that higher temperatures increase inflation persistently over twelve months in both higher- and lower-income countries, with inflation pressures largest at low latitudes and having strong seasonality at high latitudes.[7]

Natural events and phenomena

  • 12 February: a study published by the nonprofit First Street Foundation reported that improvements in air quality brought about by environmental regulation are being partially reversed by a "climate penalty" caused by climate change, especially with increases in PM2.5 particulates caused by increased wildfires.[8]
  • 28 February: a study published in Weather and Climate Dynamics statistically linked recent Arctic ice loss with warmer and drier weather in Europe, enabling "an enhanced predictability of European summer weather at least a winter in advance".[9]
  • 5 March: in a non-unanimous vote, the IUGS's Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy voted against declaring the Anthropocene a new geological epoch.[10] The vote leaves open more informally classifying human impacts as a geological event that unfolds gradually over a long period.[10]
  • 27 March: a study published in Nature concluded that accelerated melting of ice in Greenland and Antarctica has decreased Earth's rotational velocity, affecting Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) adjustments and causing problems for computer networks that rely on UTC.[11]

Actions and goal statements

Science and technology

  • 2 January: the first commercial-scale offshore wind farm in the U.S. began operation 15 miles from Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, initially providing 5 MW from one wind turbine, but planning an eventual 62 turbines capable of powering 400,000 homes and businesses.[12]
  • 18 January: the first successful test of a solar farm in space—collecting solar power from a photovoltaic cell and beaming energy down to Earth—constituted an early feasibility demonstration.[13]

Political, economic, legal, and cultural actions

  • 8 February: climate scientist Michael E. Mann won a $1 million judgment for punitive damages in a defamation lawsuit filed in 2012 against bloggers who attacked his hockey stick graph of global temperature rise, one of the bloggers having called Mann's work "fraudulent".[14]
  • March (reported): website Realtor.com added property-specific tools describing individual properties' vulnerability to heat, wind, and air quality, publishing current risks and projected risks 30 years into the future.[15]
  • 22 March: the Nauta provincial court (Peru) ruled that the Marañón River has "intrinsic" value and possesses the rights to exist, flow, and be free from pollution.[16] The ruling was the first time Peru has legally recognized "rights of nature".[16]

Mitigation goal statements

  • January (reported in TIME): The IEA has outlined that by 2030, we must triple our reliance on renewable sources of energy, double energy efficiency, significantly cut methane emissions, and increase electrification with existing technologies.[17]

Adaptation goal statements

  • 4 February (reported): to reduce sea level rise caused by melting of Antarctica's Thwaites and Pine Island glaciers, scientists proposed a "Seabed Curtain" 100 kilometres (62 mi) long, moored to and rising from the bed of the Amundsen Sea, designed to reduce the amount of warm ocean water that would melt the base of those glaciers.[18]

Consensus

  • 9 February: a global survey of almost 130,000 individuals whose results were published in Nature Climate Change found that 69% of respondents were willing to contribute 1% of their income to support action against climate change, 86% endorsed pro-climate social norms, and 89% demanded greater political action.[19] However, the world was said to be in a state of pluralistic ignorance, in which people underestimate the willingness of others to act.[19]

Projections

  • 13 February: a study published in Current Issues in Tourism projected that for the 2050s, U.S. ski seasons will shorten between 14–33 days (low emissions scenario) and 27 to 62 days (high emissions scenario), with direct economic losses of $657 million to 1.352 billion annually.[5]
  • 5 March: a study published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment projected that the first single occurrence (September; not year-round) of an ice-free Arctic "could occur in 2020–2030s under all emission trajectories and are likely to occur by 2050".[20] Daily ice-free conditions are expected approximately 4 years earlier on average.[20]
  • 13 March: a study published in PLOS One projected that 13% of all current ski areas are projected to completely lose natural annual snow cover by 2100.[21]

Significant publications

  • "State of the World's Migratory Species" (PDF). UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). February 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 February 2024.
  • "State of the Global Climate 2023". WMO.int. World Meteorological Organization. 19 March 2024. Archived from the original on 19 March 2024. WMO-No. 1347.

See also

References

  1. ^ "State of the Global Climate 2023". WMO.int. World Meteorological Organization. 19 March 2024. Archived from the original on 19 March 2024. WMO-No. 1347, p. iii.
  2. ^ Wehner, Michael F.; Kossin, James P. (5 February 2024). "The growing inadequacy of an open-ended Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale in a warming world". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 121 (7): e2308901121. Bibcode:2024PNAS..12108901W. doi:10.1073/pnas.2308901121. PMC 10873601. PMID 38315843.
  3. ^ McCulloch, Malcolm T.; Winter, Amos; Sherman, Clark E.; Trotter, Julie A. (5 February 2024). "300 years of sclerosponge thermometry shows global warming has exceeded 1.5 °C". Nature Climate Change. 14 (2): 171–177. Bibcode:2024NatCC..14..171M. doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01919-7.
  4. ^ a b Poynting, Mark (8 February 2024). "World's first year-long breach of key 1.5C warming limit". BBC. Archived from the original on 8 February 2024.
  5. ^ a b Scott, Daniel; Stiger, Robert (13 February 2024). "How climate change is damaging the US ski industry". Current Issues in Tourism: 1–17. doi:10.1080/13683500.2024.2314700.
  6. ^ Paddison, Laura (18 March 2024). "Global ocean heat has hit a new record every single day for the last year". CNN. Archived from the original on 21 March 2024.
  7. ^ Kotz, Maximilian; Kuik, Friderike; Lis, Eliza; Nickel, Christiane (21 March 2024). "Global warming and heat extremes to enhance inflationary pressures". Communications Earth & Environment. 5: 116. doi:10.1038/s43247-023-01173-x.
  8. ^ "The 10th National Risk Assessment Atrocious Air" (PDF). FirstStreet.org. First Street Foundation. 12 February 2024. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 February 2024.
  9. ^ Oltmanns, Marilena; Holliday, N. Penny; Screen, James; Moat, Ben I.; Josey, Simon A.; Evans, D. Gwyn; Bacon, Sheldon (28 February 2024). "European summer weather linked to North Atlantic freshwater anomalies in preceding years". Weather and Climate Dynamics. 5: 109–132. Bibcode:2024WCD.....5..109O. doi:10.5194/wcd-5-109-2024.
  10. ^ a b Hung, Katie (5 March 2024). "Are we in the Anthropocene Epoch? Not so fast, geologists say". CNN. Archived from the original on 5 March 2024.
  11. ^ Agnew, Duncan Car (27 March 2024). "A global timekeeping problem postponed by global warming". Nature. doi:10.1038/s41586-024-07170-0.
  12. ^ Calma, Justine (4 January 2024). "The first US commercial-scale offshore wind farm is live, but the industry faces strong headwinds". The Verge. Archived from the original on 4 January 2024.
  13. ^ Cuthbertson, Anthony (18 January 2024). "First ever space-to-Earth solar power mission succeeds". The Independent. Archived from the original on 19 January 2024.
  14. ^ Frazin, Rachel (9 February 2024). "Climate scientist wins defamation case against right-wing writers". The Hill. Archived from the original on 9 February 2024.
  15. ^ Latu, Dan; Boudreau, Catherine (13 March 2024). "See how badly your home could be hit by heat, wind, and bad air over the next 30 years". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 14 March 2024.
  16. ^ a b Surma, Katie (20 March 2024). "Landmark Peruvian Court Ruling Says the Marañón River Has Legal Rights To Exist, Flow and Be Free From Pollution". Inside Climate News. Archived from the original on 20 March 2024.
  17. ^ Tubiana, Laurence; McKenna, Catherine (16 January 2024). "2024 Must Be the Year for Exponential Climate Action". TIME. Archived from the original on 26 January 2024.
  18. ^ McKie, Robin (4 February 2024). "How do you stop a glacier from melting? Simple – put up an underwater curtain". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 February 2024.
  19. ^ a b Andre, Peter; Boneva, Teodora; Chopra, Felix; Falk, Armin (9 February 2024). "Globally representative evidence on the actual and perceived support for climate action". Nature Climate Change. 14 (3): 253–259. doi:10.1038/s41558-024-01925-3.
  20. ^ a b Jahn, Alexandra; Holland, Marika M.; Kay, Jennifer E. (5 March 2024). "Projections of an ice-free Arctic Ocean". Nature Reviews Earth & Environment. 5 (3): 164–176. doi:10.1038/s43017-023-00515-9.
  21. ^ Mitterwallner, Veronika; Steinbauer, Manuel; Mathes, Gregor; Walentowitz, Anna (13 March 2024). "Global reduction of snow cover in ski areas under climate change". PLOS ONE. 19 (3): e0299735. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0299735. PMC 10936838. PMID 38478484.

External links

Organizations

Surveys, summaries and report lists

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