A cascade of broken temperature records across the globe has prompted an unprecedented joint statement from the UK’s leading climate scientists, demanding an accelerated transition to net zero emissions. The World Meteorological Organisation confirmed that July 2024 was the hottest month ever recorded, with global average temperatures exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for the first time in a sustained manner.
Dr. James Patel of the Met Office Hadley Centre described the data as ‘stark’ and ‘sobering’. “We are now in uncharted territory. Each month this year has either set or tied a new record. The probability that this is natural variability is effectively zero,” he said.
Across the UK, provisional data shows that July 2024 was 2.1°C warmer than the 1991-2020 average. The heatwave that blanketed southern England in mid-July saw temperatures exceed 40°C in parts of Kent, a threshold last seen during the deadly summer of 2022.
Professor Fiona Roberts of the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Climate Science called the situation ‘a biosphere emergency’. She noted that the warming is not uniform. “The Arctic is heating four times faster than the global average. That is destabilising the jet stream, causing the prolonged weather extremes we are seeing in mid-latitudes,” she explained.
The scientists’ statement, coordinated by the Grantham Institute, calls for the UK government to close all remaining loopholes in its net zero strategy, including ending fossil fuel investment abroad and imposing a carbon tax on imports.
Dr. Patel emphasised that the economic cost of inaction now outweighs the cost of mitigation. “Every fraction of a degree of warming increases the frequency of crop failures, wildfires, and sea level rise. The UK’s own Climate Change Committee has modelled the costs. Delaying action will only increase the eventual economic and human toll,” he said.
Energy analyst Helena Vance (no relation) commented that the technology for rapid decarbonisation exists. “We have solar, wind, electric vehicles, and heat pumps. The bottleneck is political will and the speed of infrastructure deployment. The UK has one of the world’s largest offshore wind fleets, but planning reforms are needed to double it within five years,” she said.
The statement warns that without immediate action, the 1.5°C target will be breached permanently within years, not decades. This would trigger tipping points such as the collapse of the Greenland ice sheet and Amazon forest dieback.
For the general public, the immediate priority is adaptation. Local authorities have been urged to develop heatwave management plans and invest in urban cooling, such as green roofs and reflective surfaces. But the scientists are clear that adaptation alone cannot avert systemic collapse.
“We have the tools. The question is whether we have the collective resolve to use them in time,” said Professor Roberts.
