We say a new year is a new beginning. We leave our past behind while stepping forward into the new year. Will our earth follow suit and show us the worst of the worst in 2025?
In 2024, for the first time, the 1.5 degree C threshold was breached for a full year, making us aware it was either today or never[1]. This increase has struck a warning to our accelerating pace of global warming. Climate change is getting worse with every single year. From deadly heat waves to bone-chilling winters never seen before. Snowfall in the desert and drought in the rainforest—what never seen before could be our next headline of 2025.
The earth also sent many clear messages to us last year; the question is, when will we be ready to listen to them?
Extreme Heat Call
Our global temperatures are rising, and it's not a study; it's something we are feeling now. If not, try going out this summer with temperatures between 45 and 52 degrees Celsius. 2024 was the hottest year, which triggered forest fires, extreme heat waves, and, as a result, heat strokes and hospitalisations in many parts of the world.
2025 doesn’t have a new story either. Experts believe 2025 will follow 2024's lead and experience more extreme heatwaves. Regions like North America, some parts of Europe & Africa, and South Asia already suffered badly in 2024.
Emergency Call
With devastating floods and widespread drought, many parts of the globe have suffered food crises and displacement issues already. The monsoon of 2024 in South Asia brought unusual rainfall and flooding, which displaced millions.
With all, there were extreme wildfires in the Amazon rainforest and boreal forest of Siberia. They have released a good amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere to escalate the problem more.
Let's see what was in our newspapers in 2024.
Extreme heat grips three continents as wildfires rage[2]
Floods and landslides wreak havoc across South Asia[3]
The Latest Data Confirms: Forest Fires Are Getting Worse[4]
Now we need a call for action:
The event in 2025 could be more catastrophic and could bring humanity to the edge of crisis. Climate change is not a distant threat anymore. We are seeing it now, feeling it now. The year 2025 should be a change, not a repeated story.
We need to reduce carbon emissions by transitioning ourselves from fossil fuels towards renewable ones and by enhancing climate resilience by inventing climate-resilient infrastructure. The choice is on us what kind of future we want.
References
[1] ‘Seven proven ways to help the planet in 2025’. Accessed: Jan. 04, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20241231-seven-proven-ways-to-help-the-planet
[2] ‘Extreme heat grips three continents as wildfires rage | Climate News | Al Jazeera’. Accessed: Jan. 04, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/16/extreme-heat-grips-three-continents-as-wildfires-rage
[3] ‘Floods, landslides wreak havoc across South Asia | UN News’. Accessed: Jan. 04, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/08/1153726
[4] ‘New Data Confirms: Forest Fires Are Getting Worse | World Resources Institute’. Accessed: Jan. 04, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.wri.org/insights/global-trends-forest-fires
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