Our task in 2024

Peter du ToitI'm the founder of FutureWork IQ where I spend my time assisting businesses to improve their climate literacy so as to understand the projected impacts from the expanding climate crisis and how to adapt their workplaces in the face of these impacts.

After today’s Copernicus ECMWF press briefing we now have two datasets, JRA-55 and ERA5 showing 2023 as the warmest year on record. These are the anomalies above the preindustrial averages in both datasets:

JRA-55: +1.43°C
ERA5: +1.48°C

On Friday (12th) the remaining major datasets will release their 2023 reports, namely Berkely Earth, NASA, Hadley & NOAA.

It is now certain that 2023 will have heated between 1.4-1.5°C above preindustrial average temperatures.

This is going to have profound consequences as we move deeper into 2024.

Climate literacy means understanding what these consequences will be, what you can do to protect infrastructure and property and most importantly how we can prevent this spiralling further out of control.

This year we have an enormous task ahead of us — reducing emissions by at least 5.3% in order to remain on a below 2°C pathway.

As Dr. James Hanson said in an interview a few days ago with The Guardian:

“We are not moving into a 1.5C world, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯 2024. We will pass through the 2C world in the 2030s unless we take purposeful actions to affect the planet’s energy balance.”

Everyone has a role to play in what needs to happen next!

What will yours be?