Aftermath of Cyclone Chido, Mayotte
by David Spratt, first published at Pearls&Irritations
If an unexpected leap in the global average temperature in 2023 was described by one scientist as “gobsmackingly bananas”, are there even words to talk about 2024?
This year, Death Valley hit 54.5°C and India 48.9°C during an April–May heatwave. More than 1,300 Hajj pilgrims died in Saudi Arabia as Mecca reached 51.8°C. September brought record-breaking rainfall to central Europe, with disruption costing billions of euros. Devastating floods hit Brazil and Kenya. 2024 ended with a tropical cyclone demolishing the French colony of Mayotte, completely or partly destroying over 35,000 houses.
It was a year when the global average temperature record was broken (again!), and the international climate policy-making charade suffered its own breakdown in Baku. Here are some of the big stories.
