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New Delhi: A report released by the Copernicus Climate Change Service, the European Union’s earth observation programme, has confirmed that 2024 was the first calendar year when the average global temperature was more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels—the limit set by the Paris Agreement in 2015.
While one year of temperatures above the limit does not necessarily mean the world has officially breached it, the report’s authors are worried we are getting dangerously close.
With an average global temperature of 15.10°C, 2024 became the hottest year on record, breaking the 2023 record, says the report. On 17 July 2024, 44 percent of the world was under strong or extreme heat stress—a new annual maximum record.
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The period between 2015 and 2024 has been the warmest decade on record, and anthropogenic climate change was the primary reason behind it, adds the report.
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The C3S report, published on 10 January, pointed towards increasing greenhouse gases released by fossil fuels directly leading to rising temperatures.
How the Australopithecus was at running
A study by the University of Liverpool sought to analyse how good the early human ancestors, Australopithecus afarensis, were at running.
A paper published in Current Biology this week created computer simulations of the running abilities of those early humans using the skeletal remains of possibly the most famous australopithecine fossil of all time—Lucy.
Lucy is an early Australopithecine discovered in 1973 and dated at least three million years ago. The discovery of her skeleton in Ethiopia proved that early humans walked on two legs, but whether they could run like modern humans had remained a mystery till now.
By simulating a digital picture of Lucy, Liverpool scientists concluded that the ability of the Australopithecus to run was “very limited”, estimated at 11 miles per hour. Modern humans can run up to 20 miles per hour.
The study also shed light on how evolution beyond Australopithecus to Homo Sapiens involved the development of anatomy that help in running.
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WHO report: India continues to top tuberculosis burden
A new study in Zoonoses Journal decoded the results from the World Health Organisation’s Global Tuberculosis Report 2024. The report published this week said that India continued to be the country with the highest incidence of tuberculosis, accounting for 26 percent of the global share. India’s total cases in 2023 increased by 5 percent from 2015.
There were 10.5 million new TB cases reported in the world in 2023, with a total of 1.25 million TB-related deaths in 2023, according to the report. The figures reflect a marginal decline compared to the past two years.
However, there is a growing concern about drug-resistant TB in the world, with 3.7 percent of all new TB cases in 2023 turning out to be the multidrug-resistant kind. In China especially, drug-resistant tuberculosis is prevalent. Over 7 percent of all global drug-resistant TB cases are in China.
However, the study also said that WHO is funding efforts to end TB with a new five-year-long initiative started in 2023. It seeks approval for at least one new TB vaccine every year. As of August 2024, there are at least 15 different kinds of TB vaccines being developed and tested around the world.
A sustainable development goal for space pollution
Scientists have proposed a new UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to protect Earth’s space from growing debris.
Published in One Earth, the study by international experts highlighted growing concerns over the environmental impacts of satellite activity, with nearly 20,000 satellites launched into space since the 1950s. When abandoned, satellites and other space debris create orbital waste and increase the risk of collisions.
The study proposes modelling space sustainability, SDG18, around SDG14, which is for marine pollution prevention. This means that SDG18 would aim to establish global agreements for space debris management by taking lessons from marine conservation. The goal would complement existing SDGs, which, as of now, focus on space technology benefits but overlook environmental risks.
The new study—led by Dr Imogen Napper of the University of Plymouth—emphasises the urgent need for coordinated action. Researchers warn of a repeat of past mistakes, as witnessed in marine pollution, due to unregulated satellite deployment, which could then threaten Earth’s orbital environment.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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