Climate Change Vulnerability Around the World, Part 4 of a Multi-part Series

South Sudan, along with other West and Central African countries, has experienced its most severe floods in decades. In 2024, massive flooding again submerged large parts of South Sudan, with record water levels in Lake Victoria flowing downstream through the Nile, impacting more than 700,000 people. Storm Boris has caused up to five times the average September rainfall in parts of Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia in just four days.

Meanwhile, other parts of Europe suffered from droughts and high temperatures. “It’s just the latest wildfire crisis to hit Europe this summer, as global warming helped spur flames in Greece and Albania. Portugal’s now asking its neighbors for help.” According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, 7,636 wildfire incidents have occurred, resulting in 424,925 hectares burned in 2024. “The inferno is turning deadly in Peru, killing at least 15 people and scorching through more than 120,000 acres of rainforest.” “Bolivian firefighters continue to battle some of the worst wildfires the country has ever seen. Large portions of the territory have been engulfed by flames for several weeks now, and even with help from abroad, the fires are out of control.” In the first nine months of 2024, fires devastated 22.38 million hectares of land in Brazil, equivalent to about 2.6% of the country’s landmass, a size comparable to that of Belarus.

“Humans have tremendous role, right, both in causing global warming, all the deforestation and so forth that is leading to the ignitions of these fires.” Researchers from Norway and the UK warn that approximately 70% of the global population, or about 5.6 billion people, will experience substantial changes in weather patterns unless carbon emissions are reduced.