It is virtually certain that 2024 will unseat 2023 as Earth’s hottest year on record.  The frequency of billion-dollar disasters has increased significantly since 1980, placing many more people, homes, and businesses at physical and economic risk. 

Click the downloadable graphic: Hottest Years on Record 

Off the charts warming

It is virtually certain that 2024 will unseat 2023 as Earth’s hottest year on record. And for the first time ever, the annual global average temperature anomaly will exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels — the key long-term threshold set by the Paris Climate Accord in 2015. However, the limit set by the Paris Climate Accord refers to a longer-term average of global temperatures (on the scale of decades), meaning that the occurrence of 1.5C of warming for a single year does not equate to exceeding the Paris threshold. According to combined data from NOAA and NASA, year-to-date (January through November 2024) global surface temperature ranked highest in the 145-year record at 1.54°C (2.77°F) above the early industrial (1881-1910) baseline average. Mark January 10, 2025 on the calendar: NOAA plans to release all global temperature data for 2024, and look to Climate Matters for related reporting resources.

Click the downloadable graphic: Billion-Dollar Disasters

Billion-dollar disasters in 2024, second only to 2023

The U.S. experienced 24 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters from January through November 2024 — a total second only to the record 28 annual disasters set just last year.

These 24 billion-dollar disasters have resulted in an estimated 418 deaths and $61 billion in damages. However, these (January – November) totals do not include damages associated with Hurricanes Helene or Milton, which may add a stark $100 billion or more to this figure. If so, the 2024 total damages would surpass the $95 billion combined disaster costs in 2023. 

Click downloadable graphic: Less Time Between Disasters

Recovery time on the decline

The frequency of billion-dollar disasters has increased significantly since 1980, placing many more people, homes, and businesses at physical and economic risk. 

A stark reality emerges from a Climate Central analysis: the average length of time between billion-dollar disasters has plummeted from 82 days in the 1980s to 15 days in recent years (2020-2024).

This alarming trend continues into 2024, with the average interval between billion-dollar disasters shrinking to a mere 12 days (in the first 11 months).

Billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in 2024

The following list of select billion-dollar disasters in 2024 includes many types of events that are often made more frequent and/or intense by the artificial warming of our climate system. 

Tropical cyclones: The U.S. was impacted by five landfalling hurricanes this year, four of which caused billions of dollars in damage. Human-caused climate change increased the intensity for all of the Atlantic hurricanes in 2024, according to Climate Central analysis.

• July: Hurricane Beryl, the earliest Category 5 hurricane to form in the Atlantic Basin on record, made landfall along the Gulf Coast as a Category 1. 
• August: Hurricane Debby impacted the East Coast in August with heavy rain, and damaging flooding.
• September: unprecedented rainfall and catastrophic flooding from Major Hurricane Helene debilitated large parts of western North Carolina. Leading to at least 225 deaths, Helene was the deadliest Atlantic hurricane since Maria (2017), and the deadliest U.S. mainland hurricane since Katrina (2005). A World Weather Attribution analysis found that Helene’s rainfall was ~10% heavier due to climate change.
• October: Major Hurricane Milton, with peak maximum sustained winds of 180 mph, is now the fifth most intense hurricane in the Atlantic Basin on record. Milton’s impact on South and Central Florida included intense winds, storm surge, and the largest single-day tornado outbreak in the state’s history.

Hurricanes Beryl, Helene, and Milton all underwent rapid intensification (defined as an increase in wind speeds of at least 30 kt, or ~35 mph, in 24 hours). Research shows that climate-fueled ocean warming is leading to an increased number of tropical cyclones that experience rapid intensification.

Major hurricanes, Milton and Helene, struck just 13 days apart. The final costs of these two storms’ massive tolls are still being assessed by NCEI and other governmental agencies, but are expected to be in the tens of billions or more.

Severe storms: Of this year’s 24 billion-dollar disasters through November, 71% (17) were severe storms defined as thunderstorms that produce tornadoes, damaging winds (58 mph or higher), and/or large hail. January saw a tornado outbreak across the South, and the Midwest experienced significant tornado outbreaks in both February and March.

Ten separate severe storm billion-dollar disasters occurred in April and May, including major tornado outbreaks across the South and Midwest. In June and July, three billion-dollar severe storm events occurred in the upper Midwest and Northeast, including a record-breaking tornado outbreak in the Chicago area and Rhode Island's first ever June tornado.

Though the connections between climate change and tornado activity are not straightforward, recent studies indicate that certain conditions favorable to thunderstorms and tornadoes are occurring more often or expanding into historically less-active seasons and regions.

Wildfire and smoke: This summer, numerous wildfires affected New Mexico and caused damage to homes, vehicles, businesses, agriculture, and other infrastructure. The most impactful wildfire occurred near the town of Ruidoso, where more than one thousand structures were destroyed.

Fire weather seasons in the U.S. have grown longer and more intense since the 1970s — particularly in western states, where hotter temperatures exacerbate drought conditions that make wildfires easier to spread. Carbon pollution released by wildfires creates a hazardous feedback loop by further contributing to climate warming.

Winter storms: Mid-January 2024 plunged both the Northeastern and Northwestern U.S. into bitter cold. These multi-day arctic cold spells were accompanied by high winds and icing conditions leading to property damage, tree damage, and widespread power outages. Emerging research suggests that climate change effects to the polar vortex are making conditions more favorable to these arctic cold snaps, though this is still an active area of research.

This Climate Matters analysis was made possible by open access data from NOAA/NCEI and NASA.

Further Information:  https://www.climatecentral.org/climate-matters/2024-in-review

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