Last year was the most HUMID on record, scientists warn, bringing people into 'potentially life-threatening situations'
The latest 'State of the Climate' report published by the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS) found that 2024 set new records for levels of water vapour in the atmosphere and the number of humid days.
Measurements of humidity near the surface broke new records as the volume of water in the air reached its highest level ever.
Over both land and sea, 90 per cent of the planet's atmosphere was wetter during 2024 than the average for the last 30 years.
As the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continues to rise faster than ever before, the planet is becoming warmer.
Since a warmer atmosphere can hold more water, global levels of humidity are now reaching levels well above historical norms.
Combined with rapidly rising temperatures, these hot and humid conditions are pushing more people into 'potentially life-threatening situations'.
Dr Kate Willett of the Met Office, who is one of the report's editors, said: 'Human health can be seriously affected by high heat and humidity.'
The last 30 years have shown a continuous trend of increasing global humidity.
Humans don't directly put more water vapour into the atmosphere like we do with other greenhouse gases.
But, as the climate warms due to human activity, it can hold about seven per cent more water for every 1°C (1.8°F) of warming.
According to data gathered by the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), the amount of water in the atmosphere was 4.9 per cent higher than the 1991-2020 average in 2024.
That is significantly higher than 2016 and 2023, which have the second and third highest humidity levels at 3.4 and 3.3 per cent above the average, respectively.
The report also highlights that last year was the hottest year on record globally, and the 10th consecutive year that was more than 1°C (1.8°F) above pre-industrial levels, while the last 10 years have been the hottest 10 years on record.
In 2024, sea surface temperatures were at their highest in records dating back 171 years, and marine heatwaves were observed over more than nine tenths (91%) of the world's oceans.
A combination of humidity and high temperatures contributes to 'heat stress', the physiological strain that high 'feels-like' temperatures place on the body.
People find it harder to cool down in hot and humid conditions because sweating is less effective than in dry heat, and continued physical activity during high humidity can lead to serious health issues.
Dr Willett says: 'Such a dramatic increase in the occurrence of these humid heat events is bringing more societies into challenging, potentially life-threatening situations.
'Our report found that it's not just high temperatures that people are having to contend with, it's also humidity; with the frequency of high humid heat days at a record level, and intensity of those days at the second-highest level in the record, only fractionally cooler than 2023.'
Throughout 2024, the global average number of high-humidity heat days reached a record of 35.6 days more than normal.
Likewise, C3S found that 61 per cent of land areas experienced an above-average number of days with at least 'strong heat stress' - a feels-like temperature exceeding 32°C (90°F).
On July 10, 2024, the total area affected by 'strong' to 'extreme heat stress' peaked at around 44 per cent of the globe, the largest area affected by this degree of heat stress of any day on record.
However, an increasing amount of water vapour in the atmosphere also leads to a number of other issues.
Increased moisture in the atmosphere increases the potential for extreme rainfall events, flash flooding, and tropical storms.
Since the air can hold more moisture, there may also be longer periods between rainfall, increasing the likelihood of droughts.
2024 was also the wettest year on record for extreme precipitation, measured by maximum one-day rainfall amounts.
Many of these record-breaking events occurred during extended droughts or were unusual for the season.
Additionally, water vapour itself acts like a greenhouse gas by trapping more of the sun's heat within the atmosphere.
This accelerates global warming in a cyclical process known as 'temperature-water vapour feedback'.
Dr Robert Dunn, a Met Office researcher who edited part of the report, says: 'This latest report again highlights the ongoing and consistent changes within our climate in response to increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases.
'The coherent changes across our land surface, in our oceans, and in our atmosphere show how our climate is being forced into new states.'
However, despite global efforts to fight climate change, humanity is polluting our planet faster than ever before.
2024 was also the wettest year on record for extreme precipitation, measured by maximum one-day rainfall amounts. Pictured: London, where thunderstorm warnings were issued amid the fourth heatwave of the summer this week
The greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide all reached record high atmospheric concentrations last year.
Carbon dioxide levels increased by a record-tying rate of 3.4 parts per million between 2023 and 2024.
Professor Stephen Belcher, Met Office chief scientist, says: 'The changes to global climate highlighted in the BAMS State of the Climate Report indicates the need for deep, rapid, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels in order to limit warming as much as possible.'
Professor Belcher adds that this must come 'alongside scaled up adaptation action to protect societies and nature already exposed to impacts from record breaking extremes.'
THE PARIS AGREEMENT: A GLOBAL ACCORD TO LIMIT TEMPERATURE RISES THROUGH CARBON EMISSION REDUCTION TARGETS
The Paris Agreement, which was first signed in 2015, is an international agreement to control and limit climate change.
It hopes to hold the increase in the global average temperature to below 2°C (3.6°F) 'and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C (2.7°F)'.
It seems the more ambitious goal of restricting global warming to 1.5°C (2.7°F) may be more important than ever, according to previous research which claims 25 per cent of the world could see a significant increase in drier conditions.
The Paris Agreement on Climate Change has four main goals with regards to reducing emissions:
1) A long-term goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels
2) To aim to limit the increase to 1.5°C, since this would significantly reduce risks and the impacts of climate change
3) Governments agreed on the need for global emissions to peak as soon as possible, recognising that this will take longer for developing countries
4) To undertake rapid reductions thereafter in accordance with the best available science
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