{"id":1424808,"date":"2024-01-03T09:45:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-03T09:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grist.org\/?p=625763"},"modified":"2024-01-03T09:45:00","modified_gmt":"2024-01-03T09:45:00","slug":"24-predictions-for-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2024\/01\/03\/24-predictions-for-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"24 Predictions for 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Last year, climate change came into sharp relief for much of the world: The planet experienced its hottest 12-month period in 125,000 years. Flooding events inundated communities from California to East Africa to India. A heat wave in South America caused temperatures to spike above 100 degrees Fahrenheit in the middle of winter, and a heat dome across much of the southern United States spurred a 31-day streak in Phoenix of 110 degree-plus temperatures. The formation of an El Ni\u00f1o, the natural phenomenon that raises temperatures globally, intensified extreme weather already strengthened by climate change. The U.S. alone counted 25 billion-dollar weather disasters in 2023 \u2014 more than any other year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet this devastation was met by some of the largest gains in climate action to date. World leaders agreed for the first time to \u201ctransition away\u201d from oil and gas at the annual United Nations climate summit, hosted last month by the United Arab Emirates. Funds and incentives from President Joe Biden\u2019s signature climate law, the Inflation Reduction Act, started to roll out to companies and municipalities. Electric vehicle sales skyrocketed, thousands of young people signed up for the first-ever American Climate Corps, and companies agreed to pay billions of dollars to remove harmful chemicals called PFAS from drinking water supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we enter a new year, we asked Grist reporters what big stories they\u2019re watching on their beats, 24 predictions for 2024. Their forecasts depict a world on the cusp of change in regard to climate \u2014 both good and bad, and often in tandem. Here\u2019s what we\u2019re keeping an eye on, from hard-won international financial commitments, to battles over mining in-demand minerals like lithium, to the expansion of renewable energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n