Korean Expat Community for National Disasters

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Every year, there comes a moment when I feel that summer is no longer waiting for June. It arrives early, quietly, and then all at once. One day, I am still thinking about spring clothes, and the next, I am already looking for shade, cold drinks, and air conditioning.

What makes this feeling harder to ignore is that it no longer seems like a matter of personal sensitivity. Scientists have already shown that human-caused climate change is warming the planet. According to the IPCC, global surface temperature reached about 1.1°C above the 1850–1900 average in 2011–2020, and the World Meteorological Organization confirmed that 2024 was the warmest year on record at about 1.55°C above the pre-industrial level. As greenhouse gases trap more heat in the atmosphere, the overall baseline becomes warmer, which makes unusually hot days more likely even before summer officially begins.

That is why early heat feels different now. It is not just an inconvenient warm spell in late spring. It feels like part of a larger shift. The IPCC has reported that hot extremes, including heatwaves, have become more frequent and more intense across most land regions since the 1950s, largely because of human-induced climate change. In cities, that heat can feel even stronger because urban spaces tend to hold and amplify warmth.

In everyday life, this change appears in small but noticeable ways. Short walks feel more tiring than they used to. Spring seems to disappear before I have fully noticed it. Instead of moving gently from one season to the next, it often feels as if the weather is pushing me forward too quickly. We often imagine the climate crisis through dramatic disasters, but sometimes it begins with something much quieter: the feeling that summer has arrived before it should have.