Christmas blackouts in Ukraine after ‘massive’ Russian strike

(LONDON) — How warm was 2024? By March, just three months into the year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had already estimated a 55% chance that 2024 would be the warmest year on record for the planet. By July, they gave it a 77% chance.

It was nearly certain by November.

Turns out, breaking the record was never really in doubt. Last year easily beat out the previous record holder, 2023, for the warmest year on record globally, according to data collected and analyzed by Copernicus Climate Change Service, part of the European Union’s climate research program and confirmed by NASA and NOAA scientists.

Copernicus said the global temperature for all of 2024 was 1.6 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial level. NASA’s estimate came in slightly lower, with their scientists finding that the earth was 1.47 degrees Celsius warmer than in the mid-19th century. NOAA reported 1.46 degrees Celsius. There is a slight variation in the numbers because each scientific organization conducts its own analysis using different tools. However, the fact that the findings of three independent scientific agencies are so close demonstrates the strength of the data.

It was also a record year for the contiguous United States, according to NOAA. In 2024, the average temperature of the contiguous U.S. was 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit above average and the warmest in its 130-year record.

The year 2024 was the first complete year the planet was warmer than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to the pre-industrial average from 1850 to 1900. If that number sounds familiar, it’s because the historic Paris Agreement established a 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.

Global temperature was above the Paris Agreement threshold for 11 of 12 months, according to Copernicus. We’ve now had back-to-back record-breaking years for the warmest global temperature and each of the past 10 years has been one of the 10 warmest years on record.

While this is the first calendar year on record to top the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold, it’s not the first time the planet has passed that mark, including the 12-month global average temperature between February 2023 and January 2024 and the monthly global average temperature in February 2016.

Exceeding the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold over several months or even for a few years isn’t considered a failure to meet the Paris Agreement’s goal. The agreement looks at the global temperature average over multiple decades before making a final determination.

However, climate experts say short-term threshold breaches like we saw in 2024 are an important warning that record-breaking temperatures are likely to continue in upcoming decades if the world doesn’t reduce its emissions.

“All of the internationally produced global temperature datasets show that 2024 was the hottest year since records began in 1850. Humanity is in charge of its own destiny but how we respond to the climate challenge should be based on evidence. The future is in our hands — swift and decisive action can still alter the trajectory of our future climate,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, in a press statement.

What’s causing the warming?

Since last summer, the recent short-term spike in global temperatures has been fueled primarily by the El Niño event in the equatorial eastern Pacific. Record highs for global average temperature tend to occur during El Niño years.

But an El Niño alone isn’t causing the record-breaking warming, according to climate scientists. What happened in 2024 is that a short-term El Niño spike occurred on top of the gradual, long-term global warming trend primarily driven by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Overall, we’ve seen global warming accelerate during both El Niño and non-El Niño seasons.

“The defining factor in the evolution of many key climate indicators in 2024 has been the increasing global temperature, which is largely associated with the increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, a consequence of human activities,” said Copernicus.

Copernicus data shows that in 2024, the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached the highest annual levels ever recorded.

“Our data points clearly to a steady global increase of greenhouse gas emissions and these remain the main agent of climate change,” added Laurence Rouil, director of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.

While human-produced greenhouse gas emissions and El Niño were key contributors to the 2024 record, some scientists believe there is something else at play as well.

One possibility is that the planet is a victim of its own success in curbing air pollution. In recent decades, regulations, including one in 2020 that drastically cut the amount of sulfur dioxide being released by ships, have significantly reduced the amount of aerosols in the atmosphere.

Aerosols are tiny particles that can reflect sunlight back into space and reduce global temperatures. But their concentrations are now greatly diminished. According to the EPA, U.S. sulfur dioxide emissions have dropped 94% since 1980. The burning of fossil fuels by power plants and other industrial facilities is the largest source of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere.

While this means cleaner air, fewer atmospheric aerosols also results in a greater amount of sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface creating a heating effect. Some research suggests that this may have contributed to recent warm Northern Hemisphere surface temperatures.

Some climate experts believe the January 2022 eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai Volcano may be playing a role in our warming trend. This eruption released an unprecedented amount of water vapor into Earth’s atmosphere, according to NASA.

Typically, volcanic eruptions cool the Earth’s surface by emitting sulfur dioxide, which transforms into sunlight-reflecting aerosols. However, the 2022 eruption was different, as it released a substantial amount of water vapor—a potent greenhouse gas that traps heat in the atmosphere.

A study published in the American Meteorological Society’s Journal of Climate, found that this event could have a significant impact on surface temperatures around the world, triggering warming of over 1.5°C in some regions, while cooling others by around 1°C. However, other studies investigating the eruption have come to very different conclusions.

In July 2024, research published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmosphere concluded that most of the volcano’s effects dissipated by the end of 2023. Experts say that the atmospheric aerosol data used in the calculations could be behind the contradicting conclusions.

Copernicus said the total amount of water vapor in the atmosphere hit a record high in 2024.

Climate scientists say one thing is certain. As long as we continue to burn fossil fuels in large amounts, we will continue to see temperatures increasing globally.

To make that point, Andrew Dessler, a professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M shared on social media an email template he reuses each year when reporters ask him about the global temperatures.

His auto reply reads, “No, this is not surprising — it is exactly in line with predictions. Here is a comment you can use for your story: Every year for the rest of your life will be one of the hottest in the record.”

So certain of the trends, Dessler concludes by saying that this year “will end up being among the coldest years of this century. Enjoy it while it lasts.”

High hopes with the Paris Agreement

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. When the historic Paris Agreement was signed in 2016, then-President Barack Obama said, “Today, the world meets the moment. And if we follow through on the commitments that this agreement embodies, history may well judge it as a turning point for our planet.”

But in large part, the world hasn’t met the moment nor followed through on its commitments.

In October, the United Nations Environment Programme published a report aptly titled, “No more hot air … please!” which found the world has made little progress in reversing the use of fossil fuels and faces twice as much warming as agreed to during the Paris Climate Agreement.

The World Meteorological Organization said carbon dioxide concentrations have increased by more than 11% in just two decades, making 2023 a record for the amount of this greenhouse gas currently in our atmosphere.

According to the Global Carbon Project, carbon emissions from fossil fuels hit a record high in 2024 as U.S. crude oil production hit a new record in August 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

So, it was little surprise when researchers at Climate Action Tracker, an independent project tracking government action on climate change, declared that efforts to curb climate change have “flatlined” since 2021.

As leaders fail to take decisive action, the consequences of record-break warming take their toll on lives and property.

Billion-dollar climate consequences

Last year, 24 weather and climate disasters in the U.S. exceeded $1 billion in damage, according to the National Center for Environmental Information.

These extreme weather events, which ranged from severe storms to hurricanes to wildfires, killed at least 418 people and impacted large swaths of the country.

While climate change may not be responsible for these disasters, human-amplified climate change is making naturally occurring weather events more intense and frequent, according to NASA, NOAA, the United Nations Environment Programme, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Human-amplified climate change has led to the significant warming of the oceans, which provides the energy hurricanes need to intensify. Hurricanes Beryl and Milton rapidly intensified over unusually warm ocean water, made several hundred times more likely due to human-amplified climate change.

A recent study from Climate Central found that every Atlantic hurricane in 2024 saw an increased maximum wind speed, ranging from 9 to 28 mph, because human-amplified climate change resulted in elevated ocean temperatures. The researchers said it’s unlikely Beryl and Milton would have reached Category 5 status without the impact of climate change.

While the severe impact of hurricanes and wildfires is evident in the images of mass destruction, extreme heat is actually the deadliest weather-related hazard in the United States.

Research has discovered that children and adults over 65 are among the most vulnerable to heat-related illnesses and death and the Journal of the American Medical Association found that heat deaths in the United States have nearly doubled since 1999 and represent a 63% increase in death rates caused by heat between 1999-2023.

Extreme heat also affects a child’s health, development, behavior, and learning ability. A 2020 study found that a 1°F hotter school year is associated with a 1% reduction in learning that year, based on test scores.

Because our oceans absorb the majority of the planet’s heat, global sea temperatures reached record highs for the first half of 2024 and remained well above average for the rest of the year. According to NOAA, this has fueled the largest ocean coral bleaching event on record impacting nearly 77% of coral reef areas.

Uncontrolled climate change is also putting nearly one-third of the world’s species at risk for extinction, according to a recent analysis by University of Connecticut researcher and biologist Mark Urban. He found that 160,000 species are already at risk because of changes in our climate.

Reasons to be hopeful

ABC News Chief Meteorologist and Chief Climate Correspondent Ginger Zee said, “1.5 degrees is bad, but it’s better than 1.6, which is better than 1.7.”

She added, “Each point one degree of warming creates more severe consequences for us, especially the most vulnerable. There’s still time to slow or even stop the warming curve if we stop burning fossil fuels and reduce our consumption.”

While we haven’t reached peak fossil fuel use yet, renewable energy, like wind and solar, is growing exponentially. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the “world added 50% more renewable capacity in 2023 than in 2022.” The IEA forecasts that the next five years will see the fastest growth yet for clean energy.

Although it was less than many countries wanted, world leaders attending the COP29 UN climate conference agreed to increase contributions to developing nations dealing with the effects of climate change to $300 billion annually by 2035, triple the previous goal of $100 billion.

Companies across the globe are working on ways to collect and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and keep it from being released during electricity generation and manufacturing. While these carbon capture and storage technologies are in their infancy and have yet to significantly contribute to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, billions of dollars are being spent on these efforts.

There are also tens of thousands of green tech companies around the globe working on everything from clean fusion energy to harnessing the power of waves for electricity to making more efficient electric vehicle batteries.

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(LONDON) — Israel has occupied the Gaza Strip and West Bank since its victory in the Six-Day War in 1967. Palestinians hope that one day both territories will become part of a nation-state they can call their own.

But that dream seems further away than ever following Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in response — which has left the strip destroyed.

The far-right factions in Israel are now advocating for the annexation of the West Bank once and for all.

“We left only with our lives, with our safety,” Palestinian Sana Al Zubeidi told ABC News, after being forced to flee her home with her family amid some of the most intense IDF raids there in decades. “We didn’t take anything with us because it was at that moment and we were leaving and that airplanes in the skies were shooting at us.”

Just days ago, the Al Zubeidi family, comprised of a grandfather, grandmother, and 10 grandchildren, was forced to flee their town of Jenin in the occupied West Bank. Jenin is known as a militant stronghold, a place that has witnessed little to no peace.

Streams of people are fleeing the Jenin refugee camp where they have lived since their displacement in Israel’s founding in 1948. According to the local mayor, 16,000 people have left since the IDF launched “operation iron wall” weeks ago, with the aim to root out terrorism in the West Bank.

Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz stated, “The Jenin refugee camp will not return to its previous condition. After the operation is complete, IDF forces will remain in the camp to ensure that terrorism does not return.” There have been many battles in Jenin, and the families are determined to return to their homes one day.

Meanwhile, many displaced families have sought refuge in Burqin Village. The faces of slain Palestinian fighters throughout the years are visible here. In Israel, they are labeled as terrorists; here, they are viewed as resistance fighters and revered as “martyrs.”

Even Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who orchestrated the attacks on Oct. 7, was displayed prominently in the town square. The IDF claims that “Operation Iron Wall” is different, stating that they are targeting the core of terrorism in the West Bank.

Bulldozers are tearing up the streets, while airstrikes and controlled demolitions are destroying many houses, resulting in a devastating scene.

Roads have been destroyed, restricting movement and cutting off communities from one another across the northern West Bank. Palestinians are routinely stopped and searched.

At least 40,000 Palestinians are impacted by forced displacement due to ongoing Israeli Forces operation in the north.

This war is disrupting almost every aspect of daily life, and there seems to be no end in sight. Jamal Al-Zubaidi has lost two sons in the fighting, another son is injured, and a fourth is in jail.

“I want to tell you something very clear: We are part of the resistance to an illegitimate occupation,” Jamal Al-Zubaidi said. “The military occupation is the biggest terror. The only terrorists are the occupation and the Israeli Army that kill us, that displaced us, that took our land in 1948, that is preventing us from achieving our rights and our self-determination.”

In a statement to ABC News, the IDF reported that they had thwarted 2,000 attempted terrorist attacks since Oct. 7. They described the West Bank as having a “complex security reality” where they are dealing daily with terrorism and violent disturbances.

The statement goes on to assert that the IDF “follows international law” and claims that “terrorist operatives” have exploited civilian infrastructure.

As the raids expand, tragedy unfolds — mourners gather at the funeral of a 2-year-old child, Laila Al-Khatib, who was reportedly killed by gunfire during an Israeli raid on Jenin, according to Palestinian officials.

Security footage from Tulkarm captures the moment the IDF shot 10-year-old Sadam Hussein Rajab on Jan. 28. He was left in critical condition and died just over a week later.

The IDF has confirmed that they know both incidents and have initiated investigations. Israel asserts that this is just the beginning.

“You pay a heavy price for freedom,” Jamal Al-Zubaidi said. “And nothing comes without a price. And we are going to, and we are willing to, pay the price for our rights.”
 

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(LONDON) — A child who had been missing for five days was found alive this week in a vast game park inhabited by big cats and other wild animals in northern Zimbabwe, officials said.

The young boy was reported missing from his home in a rural village on Dec. 27, according to a statement from the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks), which did not identify the child by name but said he was 7 years old. A joint search operation involving park rangers, police officers and members of the local community was immediately launched, but heavy rainfall hindered the effort, ZimParks said.

Human footprints were discovered in an area of the Matusadona National Park on Dec. 30 and the boy was successfully located during the early morning hours of Dec. 31, according to ZimParks.

“Remarkably, it is estimated that he walked through the harsh terrain of the lion infested Matusadona National Park for 49 kilometers (30 miles) from his village to the point where he was found,” ZimParks said. “During this period, he survived on wild fruits and would dig a small hole along the dry river bank to access underground water to drink, a technique that is well known in drought prone areas.”

The boy has since been reunited with his family. He was taken to a local clinic for preliminary examinations and later transferred to an area hospital for further medical evaluations, according to ZimParks.

Mutsa Murombedzi, a member of the Zimbabwean Parliament for Mashonaland West province, which encompasses the Matusadona National Park, wrote in a post on X that the boy, whom she said was 8 years old, “was very frail when he was rescued” and “had to be put on [an IV] drip.”

“What saved him is the technique learnt from a young age in dry [and] drought prone areas of drawing water from a dry river bank — digging a mufuku,” Murombedzi added.

The lawmaker thanked everyone who helped find the child, including the “brave park rangers” and the “tireless” members of the local community who “beat night drums each day” hoping the boy would hear the sounds and head back in the direction of his home.

“This is a testament to the power of unity, hope, prayer and never giving up,” she wrote.

The Matusadona National Park, which covers an area of about 1,470 square kilometers (570 square miles), once “supported the highest density of lion in Africa, and was an incredible stronghold for elephant and black rhino,” according to the nonprofit African Parks.

“Yet, despite the challenges in the past,” African Parks writes on its website, “a healthy variety of mammal species still occurs within Matusadona, including lion, leopard, buffalo, zebra, elephant, hippo and an impressive variety of antelope species.”

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