Industries and individuals around the world burned record amounts of oil, gas and coal last year, releasing more greenhouse gases than ever before, a group of leading scientists said in a new report, warning that humanity is heading toward “climate chaos.”
A surge in global fossil fuel use in 2024 contributed to extreme weather and devastating natural disasters, including heat waves, hurricanes, floods and wildfires.
“The planet's vital signs are flashing red,” the scientists wrote in their annual report. report about the state of the climate. “The window to prevent the worst consequences is closing quickly.”
Some of Earth's most alarming “vital signs” include record heat in the oceans, researchers say. destructive coral reefs, rapidly shrinking ice sheets and increase forest loss burned in fires around the world. They said extreme intensity Hurricane Melissa This week is yet another sign that a changing climate is threatening lives and communities on an unprecedented scale.
“The climate crisis has reached a truly dangerous stage,” said William Ripple, co-author of the report and professor at Oregon State University. “It is critical that we limit future warming as quickly as possible.”
According to Ripple, there is still time to limit the damage. This means switching to greener electricity, greener transportation, fewer beef and dairy cows and other sources of harmful gases. In some places these transitions are happening, although not quickly enough.
For example, Fossil fuel use has actually declined in China in the first half of this year, a significant change for a country that remains the world's biggest climate polluter. Renewable Energy construction there is taking place at a frantic pace, dwarfing construction in the rest of the world. Clean energy has arrived in California two thirds of electricity in 2023.
However, overall fossil fuel use rose 1.5% in 2024, the researchers said, citing data Energy Institute. Energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide and other planet-warming gases are also at record highs—the exact opposite of what needs to happen to address climate change.
The report notes that higher temperatures are driving up demand for electricity.
“Avoiding even the slightest fraction of a degree of warming is critical,” the scientists wrote. “We are entering a period when only bold, coordinated action can prevent catastrophic consequences.”
reportpublished Wednesday in the journal BioScience, is the sixth annual assessment that Ripple and his colleagues have compiled since they wrote the 2020 report. paper declaring a climate emergency, a statement signed by more than 15,800 scientists.
Scientists said current rates of warming significantly increase the risks of crossing dangerous climate tipping points, including vicious cycles such as the collapse of ice sheets, the melting of carbon-rich permafrost and widespread forest loss.
Ripple and his colleagues stressed that making decisions to reduce emissions now can quickly bring benefits and that these solutions will be much cheaper than combating the consequences of unchecked climate change.
Efforts by President Trump and his administration to increase oil, gas and coal production seriously threaten to slow the transition to clean energy, said Michael Mann, a climate scientist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
He and co-author Peter Hotez argue in the recent book “Science under siege“that other countries need to take more leadership now that the US and other oil-promoting governments are working to block action on climate change.
Other scientists involved in the report said the Trump administration is turning a blind eye to threats, including sea level risedeterioration drought And forest firesAnd Agricultural production decreased.
“It's a scandal that the US is abandoning any effort to address environmental problems,” said Peter Gleick, co-founder and senior fellow at the Pacific Institute, an Oakland think tank. “The rest of the world should ignore US attempts to delay progress on these issues… and I hope other countries will continue to step up.”
Upcoming UN Climate Conference November in Brazil could be a turning point if countries make bold and transformative changes, Ripple says.
Solutions must not only include phasing out fossil fuels, scientists say, but also take into account the fact that humans are using up resources faster than nature can replenish them. The researchers, they noted, rated that two-thirds of the warming since 1990 has been accounted for by the world's richest 10% of people due to “high consumption lifestyles, high per capita use of fossil fuels and investment.”
The scientists called for changes including “reducing overconsumption” among the wealthy, protecting and restoring ecosystems, and shifting away from a diet high in meat towards plant-based foods.
“This is about more than just cutting emissions. Combating climate change requires more,” Ripple said. “This requires deep, systemic changes in the way societies value nature, design economies, consume resources, and define progress.”
