UN Weather Agency Issues ‘Red Alert’ On Climate Change After Record Heat, Ice-Melt Increases In 2023

GENEVA —A.P.he United Nations meteorological office has issued a “red alert” concerning global warming, citing record-breaking rises in greenhouse gases, land and ocean temperatures, and glacier and sea ice melting last year, as well as warning that the world’s efforts to reverse the trend have been inadequate.

The World Meteorological Organization predicts a “high probability” that 2024 will be another record-breaking year.

UN Weather Agency Issues ‘Red Alert’ On Climate Change After Record Heat, Ice-Melt Increases In 2023

In a “State of the Global Climate” report released Tuesday, the Geneva-based agency raised concerns that a much-vaunted climate goal—that the world can unite to limit planetary warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels—is increasingly in jeopardy.

“We’ve never been so close – albeit only temporarily – to the 1.5°C lower limit of the Paris climate agreement,” said Celeste Saulo, the agency’s secretary-general. “The WMO community is sounding the red alert to the world.”

According to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Service, the 12 months from March 2023 to February 2024 exceeded the 1.5-degree limit by an average of 1.56 Celsius (2.81 Fahrenheit). It stated that the calendar year 2023 was just below 1.5 C at 1.48 C (2.66 F), but a record hot start to this year pushed the 12-month average above that threshold.

“Earth is sending a distress signal,” U.N General Antonio Guterres stated. “According to the most recent State of the Global Climate report, our planet is on the verge of catastrophe. “Pollution from fossil fuels is causing unprecedented climate chaos.”

According to Omar Baddour, the World Meteorological Organization’s chief of climate monitoring, the year following an El Niño event, which influences worldwide weather patterns, is often warmer.

“We cannot declare certainly that 2024 will be the warmest year. But I would say there is a good chance that 2024 will break the record set in 2023, but we’ll have to wait and see.” “This was the warmest January on record. “So the records are still being broken.”

The most recent WMO conclusions are particularly startling when presented in a single report. In 2023, more than 90% of ocean waters will have experienced at least one heat wave. Glaciers studied since 1950 have lost the most ice on record. Antarctic sea ice has receded to its lowest level ever.

“Topping all the bad news, what worries me the most is that the planet is now in a meltdown phase—literally and figuratively given the warming and mass loss from our polar ice sheets,” said Jonathan Overpeck, dean of the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, who was not involved in the report.

UN Weather Agency Issues ‘Red Alert’ On Climate Change After Record Heat, Ice-Melt Increases In 2023

Saulo referred to the climate issue as “the defining challenge that humanity faces” and claimed that rising food poverty and migration rates are indicators of an inequality crisis.

The World Meteorological Organization predicts that in 2023, climate change-related heatwaves, floods, droughts, wildfires, and tropical cyclones will have an impact on people’s lives and livelihoods on all continents.

“This list of record-breaking events is truly distressing, but not surprising given the steady drumbeat of extreme events over the past year,” said University of Arizona climate scientist Kathy Jacobs, who was also not involved in the WMO study. “The full cost of climate-change-accelerated events across sectors and regions has never been calculated in a meaningful way, but the cost to biodiversity and to the quality of life of future generations is incalculable.”

However, the EPA acknowledged “a glimmer of hope” in preventing the Earth from reaching a fever pitch. It stated that renewable energy generation capacity from wind, solar, and hydropower increased by over 50% from 2022 to 510 gigawatts.

The research comes as climate scientists and government ministers prepare to meet in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Thursday and Friday to advocate for more climate action, including increasing national commitments to combat global warming.

UN Weather Agency Issues ‘Red Alert’ On Climate Change After Record Heat, Ice-Melt Increases In 2023

“Each year the climate story gets worse; each year WMO officials and others proclaim that the latest report is a wake-up call to decision makers,” said Andrew Weaver, a climate scientist at the University of Victoria and former British Columbia MLA.

“Yet each year, once the 24-hour news cycle is over, far too many of our elected leaders return to political grandstanding, partisan bickering, and advancing policies with demonstrable short-term outcomes,” he said. “Most of the time, other priorities take precedence over the advancement of climate policy, so nothing gets done.”

SOURCE – (AP)