WMO latest Global climate situation the report shows that the past eight years have been the eight hottest years on recordand sea level rise and ocean warming have affected new high. Record levels of greenhouse gases have caused “planetary-scale changes on land, in the oceans and in the atmosphere”.
The organization said their report, released before this year Earth Mother’s Dayecho United Nations Secretary General António Guterres‘ call for “Deeper, faster emissions cuts to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius”, as well as “massive investment in adaptation and recovery, especially for the most vulnerable countries and communities, who have done the least to cause the crisis”.
WMO Secretary General Prof. Petteri Taalas said that, in the face of increasing greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, “global population continues to be heavily affected by extreme weather and climate events“. He emphasized that last year, “constant drought in East Africa, record rainfall in Pakistan and record heat waves in China and Europe affected tens of millions of people. causing food insecurity, promoting mass migration and costing billions of dollars loss and damage.”
WMO emphasizes the importance of investing in climate monitoring and early warning systems to help mitigate the humanitarian impact of extreme weather. The report also indicates that today, innovative technology makes the transition to renewable energy “cheaper and more accessible than ever”.
Hottest years on record
The Global climate situation Additional report to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report released a month ago, includes data through 2020.
New WMO figures show that global temperatures continue to rise, making the years 2015 to 2022 the warmest since regular monitoring began in 1850. WMO notes that this is despite three consecutive years of cooling down La Niña climate model.
WMO shows the concentrations of three main greenhouse gases, which trap heat in the atmosphere – carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide – hit a record high in 2021, which is the latest year for which aggregate data is availableand that there are signs that it will continue to rise into 2022.
Indicators ‘off the charts’
According to the report, “glacial melting and sea level rise – again reaching record levels in 2022 – will continued for thousands of years“. WMO further emphasizes that “Antarctica sea ice has fallen to its lowest levels on record, and the melting of several glaciers in Europe is literally off the charts.”
Sea level rise, which threatens the survival of coastal communities and sometimes entire countries, is not only driven by the melting of glaciers and ice caps in Greenland and Antarctica, but also by the expansion of the volume of the oceans due to heat. The WMO notes that ocean warming has been “particularly high over the past two decades”.
Seasonal flooding is a part of life in Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Deadly Consequences
The report examines many of the socioeconomic impacts of extreme weather wreaking havoc on the lives of the world’s most vulnerable people. Five consecutive years of drought in East Africa, along with other factors such as armed conflict, have caused severe food insecurity for 20 million people across the region.
Widespread flooding in Pakistan caused by heavy rains in July and August last year killed more than 1,700 people, while around 33 million people were affected. The WMO highlighted that the total damage and economic loss was assessed at $30 billion and that by October 2022, about 8 million people had been internally displaced by the floods.
The report also notes that in addition to getting many people moving, throughout the year, dangerous climates and weather-related events “worse conditions” for many of the 95 million displaced people.
Threats to the ecosystem
The environmental impact of climate change is another focus of the report, which highlights changes in periodic events in nature, “such as when trees bloom or birds migrate”. The flowering of cherry trees in Japan has been tracked since the ninth century, and in 2021 the event date is earliest recorded in 1,200 years.
As a result of such changes, the whole ecosystem can be upgraded. The WMO notes that the spring arrival times of more than a hundred migratory bird species in Europe over more than five decades “show an increasing degree of mismatch with other spring events,” such as tree timing. Leaves and insects take off, things that are vital to the survival of birds.
The report said these nonconformities “are likely contributed to population decline in some migratory speciesespecially those that winter in sub-Saharan Africa” and the ongoing destruction of biodiversity.
End the ‘war with nature’
In his message for Earth Day, UN Secretary-General Guterres warned that “Biodiversity is collapsing as a million species teeter on the brink of extinction”, while calling on the world to end the “relentless and senseless war with nature”, stressing that “we have the tools, knowledge and solutions” to tackle climate change. Queen.
Last month, Mr. Guterres convene the Advisory Board of top UN agency officials, private sector and civil society leaders, to help fast-track a global initiative aims to protect all countries through lifesaving early warning systems by 2027. Increased coordinated action has been announced, initially in 30 particularly vulnerable countries. extreme weather conditions, including small island developing countries and least developed countries.
Early warning for all
WMO Secretary General Professor Petteri Taalas said on Friday that about a hundred countries currently do not have adequate weather services and that the United Nations Early Warning Initiative “aims to fill the existing capacity gap to ensure that everyone on earth is protected by early warning services.”
Taalas explains that “Achieving this ambitious mission will require improving the observation network, investing in early warning capacity, hydrological and climate services”. He also highlighted the effectiveness of cooperation between UN agencies in addressing the humanitarian impacts of climate phenomena, especially in reducing mortality and economic losses.
