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melt glacier, Coastal areas disappear from the map and the 40-degree Celsius temperatures common in Europe. Climate experts warn that pessimistic predictions of long-term environmental change are no longer in the future – they are already happening.
Last year was the third warmest on record, and the World Meteorological Organization warned this week that global temperatures will remain “abnormal” in 2025. The European Union says the 1.5-degree Paris climate agreement could be broken by 2030, a decade earlier than expected.
Samantha Burgess, deputy director of the European Copernicus Center, said: “This is shocking because we are seeing the types of events that scientists didn’t think would affect us in 2025 or this decade.” climate change serve, tell independent.
“Climate change is here. We are seeing a course in activity [today] This is what climate models predict for the 2050s, 2060s and 2070s. “
Data released last month Shows the world’s oceans being absorbed 2025 will have more heat than any other year since the beginning of modern records, according to a major international analysis.
According to Swiss Re, in early 2025, California wildfires caused catastrophic damage, killing up to 440 people and causing unprecedented economic losses of more than $40 billion.
This has been a year of above-average hurricane activity, with three Category 5 hurricanes in the North Atlantic for the first time in two decades. These include the historic Hurricane Melissa, which set records as one of the strongest storms in the Atlantic this century.
The slow-moving storm rapidly intensified as climate change caused ocean warming, leaving the Caribbean little time to react.
Climate change is tripling the number of heat-related deaths from heatwaves across Europe, according to research from the Grantham Institute. Fossil fuels have increased temperatures in affected cities by 4 degrees Celsius.
There are an estimated 2,300 heat-related deaths, about 1,500 (65%) of which are directly caused by climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
Data entry Global South is severely underreported Due to lack of resources, but expected to be just as bad. Flash floods in Pakistan have killed at least 1,037 people.
According to EMDAT, a total of 78 million people are affected by climate-related natural disasters, excluding non-climate-induced events such as earthquakes, volcanoes and tornadoes. These included 11 fatalities, 930 fatalities, and more than 35,000 injured.
“There are also major humanitarian crises that rarely make headlines but affect millions of people,” said Scott Craig, spokesman for the International Federation of the Red Cross.
“In Kenya, millions of people are experiencing the worst climate-related drought in decades. Somalia faces a similar crisis. Both are severely underfunded. These forgotten crises may struggle to attract attention, but the needs are just as urgent.”
However, Swiss Re said it remained a relatively “quiet year” in terms of financial losses. The company has been monitoring trends in economic losses caused by natural disasters over the past decade.
They reported average economic losses of $267 billion between 2015 and 2024. Last year, that number reached a whopping $327 billion. By 2025, this number will be only $220 billion. But the reality is more complex.
“This is not a peak catastrophe year,” said Balz Grollimund, head of catastrophe risk at Swiss Re. “We haven’t had any major hurricane, flood or earthquake losses, but 2025 is still an average loss year.
“Fortunately, it’s been a very quiet year from that perspective, but 2025 is still close to the 10-year average.”
Long-term efforts to increase disaster awareness and build resilience are gradually closing the “protection gap” – the proportion of losses in total losses. By 2025, nearly half (49%) of losses will be insured.
“This is a special time,” Burgess said. “These are special climate conditions.”
The Red Cross added: “We are seeing humanitarian needs rising to unprecedented levels, in part due to more frequent and severe climate-related events such as floods, droughts and wildfires. These shocks tend to hit already vulnerable communities, thus becoming a layered disaster.
“The long-term consequences extend far beyond the initial emergency. The challenge is not just how we help people immediately after a disaster, but also how we strengthen communities over time.”