From the small French archipelago of Mayotte to wealthy Saudi Arabia, and from wealthy European metropolises to the slums of Africa, no region of the world was spared in 2024 natural disasters that were almost entirely exacerbated by climate change.

In 2024, the hottest year ever recorded, they were observed record high temperaturesboth in the air and on the surface of the seas, and this heat served as fuel to amplify cyclones, heat waves and other extreme weather events around the world.

According to the World Weather Attribution (WWA) network of scientists, nearly all major disasters it examined in the past 12 months were exacerbated by greenhouse gas emissions.

“The effects of fossil fuel-driven warming have never been more clear and more devastating than in 2024. We live in a new, dangerous era.”said WWA climatologist Friederike Otto.

The deadly danger of heatwaves was starkly demonstrated in June, when more than 1,200 Muslim pilgrims died in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, where the temperature reached them 51.8° Celsius.

No continent escaped the extreme heat, the “silent killer” as scientists describe it, with victims recorded in Thailand, India or the US.

At Mexico the heat was so intense that aluata monkeys were falling dead from the treeswhile in Pakistan millions of children remained indoors when the thermometer exceeded 50° Celsius.

Warming is not just synonymous with heat waves: as ocean water temperatures are higher, more water evaporates and the warmer atmosphere holds more moisture (up to 7% more for every one degree Celsius higher temperature), two factors that cause catastrophic rains.

In April, the United Arab Emirates received two years’ worth of rain in one day, flooding many parts of the country and paralyzing Dubai airport.

OR Kenya had just overcome an episode of extreme drought, when the country experienced the worst floods in decades.

In the west and the central Africa four million people are in need humanitarian aid after historic floods that killed more than 1,500 people. In Europe, mainly in Spain, there were also deadly floods.

Afghanistan, Russia, Brazil, China, Nepal, Uganda, India, Somalia, Pakistan, Burundi and the USA were not spared the floods in the last 12 months.

In addition, the warmer ocean surface has increased the power of tropical cyclones, amplifying the power of destructive winds. Strong cyclones such as Milton, Beryl and Elin caused widespread damage in the US and the Caribbean, while 2024 saw more cyclones than average.

In November the Philippines they were hit by six major storms, just two months after the devastation of Typhoon Yagi in Southeast Asia.

Cyclone Shinto, which caused massive damage in Mayotte, would have been less powerful without climate change, a preliminary report has concluded.

Due to climate deregulation, some areas of the world are becoming wetter and others drier.

The drought has severely affected many areas of the Americas, causing massive forest fires in the western US, Canada and even in some parts of the Amazon, considered one of the wettest regions in the world.

Because of the months of drought in the countries of southern Africa, about 26 million people were threatened by hunger in December, according to the World Food Program (WFP).

Extreme weather events claimed the lives of millions of people in 2024.

From an economic point of view, natural disasters caused damages of 310 billion. dollars globally, according to an estimate by Swiss Re.

From the beginning of 2024 until November 1st the USA they had recorded 24 natural disastersthe cost of which exceeds one billion. dollars, according to authorities.

In Brazil, the drought cost 2.7 billion. in the agricultural sector from June to August.