Laura Timberlake
It’s official: July 22, 2024 was Earth’s hottest ever day, reaching a daily global average temperature of 17.16°C as global heat records continue to tumble at an alarming rate.
According to Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) data, this exceeds the previous record of 17.09°C recorded on July 21, just one day earlier.
C3S director Carlo Buontempo says what is truly staggering is how large the difference is between the temperature of the past 13 months and the previous temperature records.
“We are now in truly uncharted territory and as the climate keeps warming, we are bound to see new records being broken in future months and years,” he says.
The rises in temperature have world leaders calling for urgent global action. UN secretary general António Guterres believes the temperature increases will result in significant public health issues. He says combining new cooling approaches with heat health warning systems could save up to 100,000 lives a year globally.
Looking to the future
A research project led by the Centre for Sustainable Cooling and the Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-Chain (ACES) in Kigali, Rwanda, has released a report titled The hot reality: Living in a +50°C world.
The report explores the need for easily accessible cooling on a global scale. Authored by Dr Tim Fox, Dr Leyla Sayin and Professor Toby Peters with contributions from 35 experts across the world, it delves into why cooling should be recognised as a form of critical national infrastructure.
The report finds that as the severity and length of heatwaves increases, humans need access to better cooling options for comfortable living, health, productivity, food and data. It explores four main themes:
- The impacts of heat on people, places and the functioning of society
- How can we adapt to heat impacts and become more resilient?
- Why should cooling be designated as critical national infrastructure?
- Where are the globally relevant gaps in research and how do we address them?
One of the key recommendations from the report is that a holistic systems-level thinking approach needs to be developed on an international level for cooling infrastructure and maintenance. Funding needs to be provided for studies and programs to progress the development of environmentally sustainable, fair and equitable cooling solutions.
You can download the full report.
Refrigeration sensation
The Institute of Refrigeration (IOR) and the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR) are hosting the first global refrigeration and extreme heat conference in the UK next year.
The conference’s theme is “The Role of Refrigeration in Adapting to Rising Ambient Temperatures”. The IOR says it will explore the critical issues the refrigeration, air conditioning, and heat pump sectors are facing, which are becoming more complex as temperatures rise.
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