The United Nations organization submitted a new report on Tuesday a report About the state of the Earth's climate last year. It summarizes a very long series of records of weather and natural disasters.
– What we have seen in 2023, especially unprecedented sea temperatures, retreating glaciers, and loss of sea ice in Antarctica, is of great concern, says WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.
The organization confirms that the average temperature on Earth last year was the highest ever. Heat records have been broken on land and at sea.
The report shows that the planet is “on the brink of the abyss.” Pollution from fossil energy is sending climate chaos to new heights, says UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
Marine heat waves
During the year, more than 90 percent of the world's oceans were affected by what are known as marine heat waves. Some of the most extreme measurements were made in the eastern North Atlantic.
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A large number of countries have been hit by either heatwaves, droughts, floods, large forest fires or unusually strong hurricanes.
The climate crisis is a historic challenge facing humanity itself. Saulo says it is closely linked to the inequality crisis.
She announced that the World Meteorological Organization is now sounding a “red alert” regarding climate change.
The organization says that the phenomenon of gradual global warming is due to increasing amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In addition, the natural climate phenomenon El Niño contributed to significant jumps in temperatures last year.
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Previously, it was the EU Climate Monitoring Service C3S Pinned The average global temperature has remained at record high levels for nine consecutive months.
Huge areas burned
The average global temperature last year was about 1.45 degrees above the pre-industrial level, according to the World Meteorological Organization. This was a clear new record.
Calculations of the global average temperature, based on temperature measurements, go back 174 years. The previous record was from 2016, a year also marked by an El Niño phenomenon.
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Canada was one of many countries hit by heatwaves and drought in 2023. Here, 14.9 million hectares of forest were burned, a new record. Smoke from the fires polluted the air in the northeastern United States.
Meanwhile, glaciers were melting rapidly around the world, especially in the Alps and the United States. Within two years, Switzerland's glaciers lost 10% of their remaining volume.
It is estimated that glaciers in western North America will lose 9% of their remaining volume between 2020 and 2023.
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Local residents monitor a forest fire near Alexandroupoli in Greece on August 21 last year. The forest fire here was the largest ever recorded in the European Union. Climate change is contributing to an increased risk of wildfires in many places around the world. Photograph: Achilleas Shiras/AP/NTB Image: NTP
– It happens faster
Global warming is occurring faster and with more serious consequences than before. Today, more than three billion people are vulnerable to the consequences of climate change, and this number will continue to rise as temperatures rise, says Secretary-General Caroline Andor of WWF's World Wide Fund for Nature in a commentary on the report.
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The World Meteorological Organization cites climate change as a contributing cause of food shortages and hunger in poor countries, in addition to conflict, economic decline and rising prices.
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In many countries in Southeast Africa, agricultural areas were inundated as a result of Cyclone Freddie last February. Freddie held the record as the “longest-lived” tropical cyclone ever observed, and the unusual storm has been linked to climate change.
Floods in Libya
Last year, a number of countries in southern Europe, North Africa and Asia were also affected by various forms of unusual extreme weather.
Heavy rains fell on Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey and Libya as a result of Storm Daniel in September. In Libya, two ancient dams collapsed, and several thousand people died in floods in the city of Derna.
In Mexico, 47 people died when Hurricane Otis struck the coastal city of Acapulco. Of all known hurricanes, Otis was one of the fastest growing in strength. Economic losses in Mexico are estimated at about 160 billion Norwegian kroner.
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Poor countries in East Africa, especially in the Horn of Africa, have been affected by drought for several years. But last year floods replaced drought, forcing 1.8 million people from their homes.
In addition, there is also a long-term drought in Spain, northwest Africa, southwest Asia and parts of South America. Lack of rain in Argentina and Uruguay led to losses in agricultural crops last year.
New record this year?
Although the world heat record was almost broken last year, it may be broken again this year.
– There is a high probability that the record will be broken again in 2024, says Omar Baddour, head of climate monitoring at the World Meteorological Organization.
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If extreme temperatures persist in many ocean areas, that is bad news for many species living in the sea – not least coral reefs. according to Authorities in the United States.
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– After all the bad news, what worries me most is that the planet is now in the “collapse” phase, researcher Jonathan Overbeck of the University of Michigan tells the Associated Press.
Despite the persistent temperatures and extreme weather, the World Meteorological Organization believes that the rapid development of renewable energy provides a “ray of hope.” The renewable capacity that came online worldwide last year was almost 50 percent larger than the previous year.
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