A World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report has shown that weather, water, and climate-related disasters, such as catastrophic flooding, heat, and drought, which harmed millions of people and cost billions of dollars last year, demonstrate the need for greater climate change mitigation.
According to the report, the events of 2022 highlighted the evident need to do much more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with greater monitoring in order to strengthen climate change adaptation through widespread access to early warnings.
The last eight years have been the eight warmest on record. In mid-January, global temperature estimates for 2022 will be announced. Because of the continuation of a cooling La Nia phenomenon, which is currently in the third year, 2022 will not be the warmest year on record.
However, the WMO report showed that this cooling effect will be short-lived and will not alter the long-term warming trend caused by record quantities of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in our atmosphere.
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The Met Office’s monthly global temperature forecast for 2023 shows that the average worldwide temperature would be between 1.08 °C and 1.32 °C above pre-industrial levels, with a central estimate of 1.20 °C (1850 to 1900).
This will be the tenth year in succession that temperatures have reached at least 1°C above pre-industrial levels.
The likelihood of temporarily breaching the 1.5°C limit of the Paris Agreement is increasing with time.
In his reaction, the WMO Secretary-General, Prof. Petteri Taalas said: “We have faced several dramatic weather disasters which claimed far too many lives and livelihoods and undermined health, food, energy and water security and infrastructure. One third of Pakistan was flooded, with major economic losses and human casualties.
He stated that record-breaking heat waves have been observed in China, Europe, North and South America. The long-lasting drought in the Horn of Africa threatens a humanitarian catastrophe.
“There is a need to enhance preparedness for such extreme events and to ensure that we meet the UN target of Early Warnings for all in the next five years.” he said.
WMO, which marks its 150th anniversary this year, stressed that early warnings, increasing investment in basic global observing system and building resilience to extreme weather and climate will be among its priorities in the New Year.
The organisation assured that it would also promote a new way of monitoring the sinks and sources of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide by using the ground-based Global Atmosphere Watch, satellite and assimilation modeling.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
