Heat records are being broken across the globe, and by shockingly high margins. Scientists say that it is almost certain that 2024 will replace 2023 as the hottest year since records have been kept.
According to one study, a 1-in-1,000-years heat wave as recently as five years ago is quickly becoming a 1-in-40-years heat event.
New Jersey, after all of its focus on sea level rise and intense rain events, this year released an extreme heat resiliency action plan. The impact of extreme heat has come to center stage after spending time as a less considered consequence of climate change.
More scientists have begun to investigate the issue of runaway heat records. Even areas that are not yet experiencing destabilizing heat events are impacted by them, particularly through agriculture and energy consumption.
In 2024 Las Vegas broke its previous daily heat record, reaching 120 degrees. Unlikely locations like Agness, Oregon, hit 115 degrees, and Morrisville, North Carolina, saw 106 degrees.
When one scientist saw the number of local records being broken worldwide last September, his reaction, as reported in the Insurance Journal, was highly unscientific. He called it “absolutely gobsmackingly bananas.”