2023-04-22 02:27:09
In its annual report on the state of the global climate, the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) highlights global changes on land, in the oceans and in the atmosphere, caused by the levels records of greenhouse gases that trap heat.
The report confirms that the planet’s average temperature in 2022 was 1.15°C warmer than in pre-industrial times (1850-1900) and that the past eight years have been the warmest on record, despite cooling caused by the La Niña weather phenomenon three years in a row.
According to’OMM, Antarctica’s sea ice has reached its lowest level on record and the melting of some European glaciers has literally exceeded records
.
Et the game is already lost for glaciers, as the concentration of CO2 is already very high and sea level rise is likely to continue for thousands of years to come
WMO Secretary General Petteri Taalas told AFP.
The melting can’t be stopped unless we create a way to remove CO2 from the atmosphere
he said.
The reference glaciers have experienced a much greater loss than the average for the last ten years. The cumulative thickness loss of glaciers since 1970 amounts to nearly 30 m.
The Alps, hit hard
The European Alps have broken glacier melt records due to a combination of low winter snowfall, the arrival of Saharan dust in March 2022 and heat waves between May and early September.
The situation of the Swiss glaciers is particularly dramatic.
They lost 6% of their ice volume between 2021 and 2022, compared to a third between 2001 and 2022. For the first time, no snow survived the summer melt season, even at the highest measurement sites , so there was no accumulation of fresh ice.
Sea levels and ocean heat have also reached record highs.
Droughts, floods and heat waves affect large areas of the world and the costs associated with them continue to rise.
Greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow, the climate continues to change, and people around the world are still being hit hard by extreme weather and climate events.
alerte M. Taalas.
At a press conference, he pointed out that2060, regardless of our success in mitigating climate change”,”text”:”this negative trend in weather and all these parameters was likely to continue into the 2060s, regardless of our success in mitigating climate change”}}”>this negative trend in weather and all these parameters was likely to continue into the 2060s, regardless of our success in mitigating climate change.
We have already emitted so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that it will take decades to reverse this negative trend. The game is already lost on melting glaciers and rising sea levels, so that’s bad news
he said.
The hope aroused by green energies
But there are still glimmers of hope. In particular because green energies are becoming cheaper than fossil fuels, according to Mr. Taalas who points out that the planet is no longer heading towards a warming of 3 to 5°C as predicted in 2014, but rather towards a warming of 2.5 at 3°C.
°C, which would be best for the well-being of humanity, the biosphere and the global economy”,”text”:”In the best case, we might still achieve a warming of 1.5°C, which would be best for the well-being of humanity, the biosphere and the global economy””>In the best case, we might still reach a warming of 1.5°C, which would be the best for the well-being of humanity, the biosphere and the environment. Mondial economy
he told AFP, pointing out that 32 countries have reduced their greenhouse gas emissions without this preventing them from growing economically.
Countries have started to act
, as well as the private sector
he noted.
On the other hand, he deplored that only half of the 193 Member States of theHIM has early warning services.
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