The year 2024 was a record year, and not in a good way. In July, the Earth's average temperature was the highest in 175 years, with July 22 specifically being the hottest day on record. Last summer was the hottest since about 1880, this year's hurricane season kicked off with Beryl — the earliest Category 4 hurricane on record — and a report released in June confirmed that human-caused global warming is at an all-time high. However, scientists are not only worried about the record breakers in the headlines. As of this year, glaciers are melting at an unprecedented rate due to all this human-caused heat, sea levels are rising irreversibly due to melting glaciers, coastal communities are being ravaged by storms made worse by such sea level rise combined with high temperatures, and animals are being displaced from their homes because the Earth is changing too, too fast. Just last month, we saw Hurricane Helene destroy cities and claim lives – and its power is indeed linked to climate change. (Monisha Ravisetti, more at msn.com)