Global heat waves could become ‘new normal’ without swift action: experts

"No more hesitancy, no more excuses, no more waiting for others to move first. There is simply no more time for that," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

As parts of the globe are set to see brutally hot temperatures this weekend once again, climate scientists are warning the heat waves looming over communities are not going anywhere soon and that world leaders must take action to stop them from becoming the “new normal.”

On Thursday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the world had reached an “era of global boiling,” just as the G20’s environment ministers were set to meet Friday to discuss work on climate change.

But Guterres said world leaders must enact changes quickly and put forward ambitious targets to reduce emissions to stop the heating trend.

“Climate change is here. It is terrifying, and it is just the beginning,” he told reporters in New York. “No more hesitancy, no more excuses, no more waiting for others to move first. There is simply no more time for that.”

The push from Guterres is not new, but atmospheric physicist Kent Moore told Global News that although the words could be seen as alarmist, they’re still needed.

“It’s really important to drive home that we’re now in a very different state than I think we thought we would be,” he said on Friday. “This is the new normal, but we can control what the next new normal will be.”

Moore cited recent comments by the Met Office in the U.K. which said that the record temperatures seen in 2022 would be considered “average” by 2060 and even “cool” by the end of the century.

“In the near future, within 30 years, which is not a long time, this will be a typical summer,” he said.