The heat is on!

Although many of us in Britain have, until quite recently, felt that this summer was likely to pass by without anything like a ‘proper’ heatwave, our planet has been heating up like never before.

We are currently in ‘El Scorchio’ territory in the UK but unfortunately this is also true of the earth, with data from NASA showing that July 22 was the hottest day on earth ever recorded.

As the year passes its midpoint, Carbon Brief are reporting that 2024 is likely to be the warmest on record, with global temperatures setting a new record for each of the first six months of 2024.

This pushes the global climate into completely uncharted territory.

The analysis from Carbon Brief shows a 95% probability that this year will surpass 2023 as the warmest year on record.

So what can be done and what should we do?

Climate extremes

This projection emerges amid a series of climate extremes that have marked the first half of 2024.

In the latest “state of the climate” quarterly update, Carbon Brief assesses the first full six months of 2024 and finds:

1. The first six months of 2024 have each set new temperature records, extending an already remarkable streak of 13 consecutive record-breaking months dating back to 2023.
2. On 22 July, the world experienced its highest absolute global daily temperature on record, reaching a scorching 17.15C.
3. The heat has been felt globally, with 63 countries experiencing their warmest June on record. Over the past 12 months, a staggering 138 countries have recorded their hottest temperatures ever.
4. July 2024 is very likely to be the first time in 13 months without a new record, coming in cooler than July 2023. However, it will still be more than 0.2C warmer than any July prior to 2023.
5. With El Niño fading and modest La Niña conditions potentially developing later this year, it is unlikely that the extreme monthly temperature records set in the second half of 2023 will be surpassed in 2024.
6. Antarctic sea ice extent has fallen to near 2023’s record lows in recent weeks, reflecting the broader trend of polar sea ice loss.

Raising the alarm

I and several other colleagues have written here about the things we know about the climate emergency, not least this article reporting on a speech by Lord Deben, former Chair of the UK’s Climate Change Committee.

The article is well worth a read, but to paraphrase it, Lord Deben talks about the certainty that the climate crisis is only going to get worse – which is pretty alarming! However, the final point at the end of his speech talks about the certainty that we do still have time to stop the world from overheating.

Following on from that is another blog which follows a podcast with Britain’s leading energy economist, Professor Dieter Helm, whose message is a tough one – we are way off course so we cannot escape the consequences.

However, there are things we can and must do and now is the time to do them.

Olympic-style teamwork

It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the climate crisis but every step you take to turn down the thermometer a degree, take a bus or train rather than drive, or even cut out meat from your diet for one day a week, really makes a difference.

Then you can look at what your company is doing and help them reduce energy consumption – which also helps minimise bills! Again, it’s about taking the easy steps first, then looking at what else can be done to mitigate our energy use.

This is something we are doing as a company and something we are trying to help our partners achieve with our Committed Carbon Reduction Programme as Oli Collins explains.

And finally, we all need to come together as society and as governments around the world, to find ways that celebrate collaboration without any finger pointing. 

As my colleague Chris Newman has said in this blog, it will take an Olympian effort, but as the medal tally for Team GB rises, that’s actually something we Brits are quite good at, aren’t we?

Martin Fahey is Head of Sustainability