Jump to content

2024 in climate change

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by RCraig09 (talk | contribs) at 21:45, 13 February 2024 (→‎Measurements and statistics: revise per Talk Page and per BBC article language now quoted on Talk Page). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

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

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.[1]
  • 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.[2]
  • 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.[3] This single-year breach does not violate the 1.5 °C long-term average agreed on in the 2015 Paris Agreement.[3]

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.[4]

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.[5]
  • 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.[6]

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".[7]

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.[8]

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.[9]

Consensus

Projections

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.

See also

References

  1. ^ 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. doi:10.1073/pnas.2308901121. PMID 38315843.
  2. ^ 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. doi:10.1038/s41558-023-01919-7.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "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.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Cuthbertson, Anthony (18 January 2024). "First ever space-to-Earth solar power mission succeeds". The Independent. Archived from the original on 19 January 2024.
  7. ^ Frazin, Rachel (9 February 2024). "Climate scientist wins defamation case against right-wing writers". The Hill. Archived from the original on 9 February 2024.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ 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.

Organizations

Surveys, summaries and report lists

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2024_in_climate_change&oldid=1207060759"