People Exposed to Climate Change: March-May 2024

Between March and May 2024, global temperature records were broken for three consecutive months. Using the Climate Shift Index (CSI), the analysis found that approximately one in four people worldwide experienced temperatures at least three times more likely due to climate change (CSI level 3+) daily. Exposure peaked on April 6, 2024, with 2.7 billion people affected. The most severe impacts were concentrated in Africa, Southeast Asia, Central America, and South America, with 44% of Africa's population experiencing the most extreme attributable heat (CSI level 5 for 60+ days). The report also highlights a strong regional contrast in the U.S., where coastal areas and islands showed higher CSI signals despite lower temperature anomalies compared to the Upper Midwest.

• Global temperature records were broken in March, April, and May 2024, with May marking the 12th consecutive month of record-breaking global temperatures.
• On average, one in four people globally experienced temperatures with a very strong influence of climate change (CSI level 3 or higher) every day from March 1 to May 31, 2024, peaking at 2.7 billion people on April 6, 2024.
• Extreme climate-change-driven heat was most prevalent in Africa and South America; 44% of the African population and 32% of the South American population experienced at least 60 days at the maximum CSI level 5.
• In 58 countries, the average person experienced a very strong climate change influence (CSI level 3+) on at least two-thirds of the days during the three-month period, primarily in Southeast Asia, Central and South America, and various regions of Africa.
• Six cities experienced a very strong influence of climate change on 90 or more days (at least 98% of the season): Quito, Makassar, Guatemala City, Caracas, Kigali, and Monrovia.
• Among 48 global megacities, 40 experienced at least one day of CSI level 3+ heat, and 10 megacities—including Lagos, Kinshasa, and Mexico City—endured such heat for at least half the season.
• In the United States, the strongest CSI signals occurred in coastal states like Florida and islands like Puerto Rico and Hawaii, whereas states with the highest temperature anomalies (Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia) had very few days of CSI level 3+ influence due to higher seasonal temperature variance.
• Climate change contributed to a variety of extreme weather events beyond heat, including severe flooding in Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul state, drought in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi, and record-breaking heat in Mali that killed at least 100 people.

APA

Giguere, J., Pershing, A., Freimuth, E., Tannenbaum, A., & Martin, M. (2024). People Exposed to Climate Change: March-May 2024. Climate Central. https://assets.ctfassets.net/cxgxgstp8r5d/32HtF7Vktq49uYi9QSbdaf/2123af08fa0de32850e90b2c06e71614/People_Exposed_to_Climate_Change__March-May_2024.pdf

Chicago

Giguere, Joseph, Andrew Pershing, Erika Freimuth, Arielle Tannenbaum, and Megan Martin. People Exposed to Climate Change: March-May 2024. Climate Central, 2024. https://assets.ctfassets.net/cxgxgstp8r5d/32HtF7Vktq49uYi9QSbdaf/2123af08fa0de32850e90b2c06e71614/People_Exposed_to_Climate_Change__March-May_2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Giguere |first1=Joseph |last2=Pershing |first2=Andrew |last3=Freimuth |first3=Erika |last4=Tannenbaum |first4=Arielle |last5=Martin |first5=Megan |title=People Exposed to Climate Change: March-May 2024 |publisher=Climate Central |date=6 June 2024 |url=https://assets.ctfassets.net/cxgxgstp8r5d/32HtF7Vktq49uYi9QSbdaf/2123af08fa0de32850e90b2c06e71614/People_Exposed_to_Climate_Change__March-May_2024.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{giguere2024people, author = {Giguere, Joseph and Pershing, Andrew and Freimuth, Erika and Tannenbaum, Arielle and Martin, Megan}, title = {{People Exposed to Climate Change: March-May 2024}}, institution = {Climate Central}, year = {2024}, month = jun, url = {https://assets.ctfassets.net/cxgxgstp8r5d/32HtF7Vktq49uYi9QSbdaf/2123af08fa0de32850e90b2c06e71614/People_Exposed_to_Climate_Change__March-May_2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }