The planet's boiling and we’re still dragging our feet over fossil fuels

An aerial view of the town of Lahaina on the island of Maui in Hawaii, United States, after 80% of it was destroyed by a wildfire on Aug 11, 2023. Fires, storms and floods are becoming more intense as the planet heats up. — AFP

For the last several weeks of August 2023, I’ve kept hearing, like a broken record, about broken records related to scorching global temperatures.

In June, we saw record hot days in the northern hemisphere, including in China, Europe, North Africa and North America. Then, June was declared the hottest month ever recorded. On July 4, we hit a new high for the hottest day. That was fast overtaken the very next day. And that record was broken the day after, on July 6 – the planet’s “hottest day ever”. A few weeks later, July was declared the hottest month ever recorded. The highest-ever ocean temperatures were also recorded then.

Some places are becoming almost unlivable due to blistering heat. In Phoenix, the United States, where temperatures hit 48°C on some days in July, spending time outside is currently dangerous; playgrounds and hiking trails are deserted. Arizona state authorities are providing water and cooling centres for the homeless, while state hospitals are teeming with cases of heatstroke and third-degree burns from falls onto hot pavements – surface temperatures of asphalt and concrete can reach as high as 82°C, says the Arizona Burn Center, which ran at full capacity in July.

In China’s north-west area, temperatures have even reached 52°C. In Italy, most main cities were on high alert in mid-July, while in Athens, the Acropolis was temporarily closed after tourists began fainting in the heat.

Strong heat is a silent killer – it causes more deaths than other natural disasters (such as floods) in many countries. Last year, heat-related complications killed 60,000 people in Europe. Such figures led the European Union to declare this July 15 as a day to mark “Victims of the Global Climate Crisis”.

The world has now moved from global warming to “global boiling”, United Nations secretary-general António Guterres said.

This could be a “new normal”. Scientists did warn us about longer, more frequent and intense heatwaves driven by human-made climate change. “Hotter summers like this one in the northern hemisphere will become normal as global warming continues,” says climatologist Fredolin Tangang, who previously coordinated regional climate modelling projects in South-East Asia.

On top of this, the natural warming El Niño weather pattern is currently driving temperatures higher. “Once in every few years when El Niño appears, new records will be made,” says Tangang, a fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia. July’s new records could again be broken this month, or next April or May, as El Niño will continue until then, he adds.

Malaysia is unlikely to experience the hotter conditions with temperatures of around 50°C seen elsewhere, he says. But if the current El Niño cycle strengthens, temperatures in some areas here, especially in northern Peninsular Malaysia, could reach around 40°C.

Perhaps what is most alarming in all this is that these heatwaves are occurring with global warming at only 1.22°C above pre-industrial levels, according to data in June.

The earth will warm further as our continued use of fossil fuels releases more warming greenhouse gases like carbon into the atmosphere. Countries are falling far short of the levels to which they pledged to cut their emissions. Current implemented climate polices would put the global temperature increasing by 3.2°C, says Tangang. Scientists have warned that global warming should not exceed 1.5°C to prevent catastrophic climate change. We need to drastically cut emissions by 50% from current levels by 2030 to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, UN climate reports say.

It is shocking that in the face of such a grim future, politicians are still dragging their feet on acting. Malaysia is a particularly poor performer, ranking 56 among 59 countries in the Climate Change Performance Index – one of the lowest-performing countries.

Last month, the Malaysian government launched the National Energy Transition Roadmap, to help Malaysia become a “green industry leader”, with planned investments of RM25bil and an increase in renewable energy capacity. Great intentions, but we need to see the fine print. That may be released in the second part of the roadmap, says climate change expert Renard Siew.

We will need to address our heavy dependence on fossil fuels for energy. Coal and natural gas account for 75% of Malaysia's power needs. The country’s Climate Change Act is still not out yet either.

However, there is a promise of a feasibility study of a carbon pricing instrument before 2025. Siew says it’s important to put a price on carbon emissions. Then, he says, “people can start treating this issue with more urgency and begin factoring emissions more seriously into decision- making”.

“We need to accelerate a lot of these initiatives as we simply don’t have any more time to waste. All hands on deck, whether you are a scientist or working in the private or public sector, we need to put our heads together [and] use our collective experiences to drive our target of becoming a carbon neutral country.”

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Human Writes columnist Mangai Balasegaram writes mostly on health but also delves into anything on being human. She has worked with international public health bodies and has a Masters in public health. Write to her at [e-mail]. The views expressed here are entirely the writer's own.