The UN specialized agency in charge of international cooperation in the field of meteorology has published its new report, which summarizes the state and impacts of climate change in 2022.
Fires, droughts, extreme heat… In 2022, global warming was felt on a daily basis, with a very large number of populations suffering the consequences. In his report (in English) on the state of the global climate in 2022, published on Friday April 21, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO, a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international cooperation in the field of meteorology) details the main indicators which make it possible to understand the climate change (greenhouse gases, temperatures, sea level rise, heat and acidification of the oceans, glaciers, etc.) and its consequences.
“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”retains the Secretary General of the WMO, Petteri Taalas.
>> Causes, consequences, solutions… Our answers to your questions on global warming
While UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres assured on April 18 that “We [disposions] tools, knowledge and solutions” to combat global warming and “we must step up climate action by reducing emissions more significantly and faster”, recent reports from the IPCC, Copernicus and now the WMO remind us that the situation continues to worsen. Franceinfo summarizes the conclusions of this latest publication, devoted to a year 2022 which has again broken many records.
The last eight years are the hottest on record
In the world in 2022, the average temperature was 1.15°C warmer than during the pre-industrial period (1850-1900), before humans began to burn fossil fuels on a massive scale. And despite the presence of a natural phenomenon called La Niña, which pulls the temperature down, 2022 did not mark a break in warming: the years 2015 to 2022 were the eight hottest years ever observed.
This phenomenon is explained by the concentration in the atmosphere of the three main greenhouse gases emitted by our activities (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide), which trap heat on the planet. These shows “reached record highs in 2021, the last year for which consolidated global values are available”, writes the WMO in its report. The organization points out that “The annual increase in methane concentration between 2020 and 2021 was the highest ever recorded”reaching 1,908 parts per trillion (ppb).
The icy waters are melting faster and faster
This is an important indicator of ongoing warming. The icy waters (or cryosphere) are melting faster and faster. The WMO cites the evolution of 40 reference glaciers “for which we have long-term observations” : their average thickness has lost more than 1.18 meters between 2021 and 2022. “This loss is much greater than the average of the last ten years”, notes the WMO. In total, these glaciers have lost 26 meters in thickness since 1970.
In its report, the WMO gives several particularly alarming examples. The Alps, for example, have lost 3 to 4 meters and “Breaked glacier melt records due to a combination of low winter snowfall, Saharan dust intrusion in March 2022, and heat waves between May and early September.”
The document also warns about the melting of the ice caps of Greenland and Antarctica, as well as that of the sea ice which is floating. In Antarctica, the ice is “fallen to 1.92 million km2 on February 25, 2022, the lowest level ever recorded”. In the North, the extent of the Arctic sea ice ranks “11th lowest minimum ice extent ever recorded by satellite” for the month of September.
Sea level rise is accelerating
The oceans are a major cog in the climate system: capable of absorbing part of our CO2 emissions, they are also subject to the phenomenon of global warming. So, “58% of the surface of the oceans experienced at least one marine heat wave during the year 2022”reports the WMO.
Two main consequences follow from this. First, sea levels are rising due to the melting of glaciers and the expansion of warming water. In 2022, this average increase was estimated at 3.4 millimetres. This phenomenon is accelerating, according to the report: “The rate of mean sea level rise doubled between the first decade of the satellite record (1993-2002, 2.27 mm per year) and the last (2013-2022, 4.62 mm per year) “exposes the organization.
Then, by absorbing CO2, the ocean acidifies. Its pH has declined “0.017 to 0.027 per decade since the late 1980s”, makes the report. This change in pH affects marine biodiversity and in particular the ability of certain organisms to build their shells and skeletons.
Repeated extreme weather events
The State of the World Climate report also lists the sad list of extreme weather events that hit different parts of the world in 2022. It cites the drought in East Africa, where “precipitation has been below average for five consecutive rainy seasons, the longest such streak in 40 years”.
Again in Pakistan, unprecedented rainfall last summer affected 33 million people, displaced 8 million and “caused major flooding, which killed at least 1,700 people” and 30 billion dollars (about 27.36 billion euros) in damage.
The document also dwells on the heat waves that have affected China, “the widest and longest since the start of its national surveys”, and Europe. The latter caused an excess mortality of 15,000 people, including 2,800 in France. “The south-west of France has been severely affected by fires, with more than 62,000 hectares burned“, illustrates the report.
Ecosystems disturbed in their cycles
The report also deplores the consequences of global warming on ecosystems. Two examples are given. The flowering of trees first, while that “cherry blossoms in Japan, recorded since 801 AD, has been occurring earlier since the late 19th century as a result of climate change and urban development”. In 2021, she performed on March 26, “earliest date recorded in over 1,200 years” and in 2022, April 1.
The migration of birds, then. “For example, the spring arrival dates of 117 species of European migratory birds over 50 years reveal an increasingly large lag with respect to other spring events important for bird survival, such as the emergence of leaves and the flight of insects”, write the UN experts. Enough to “probably” contribute “declining populations of certain migratory species”adds the document.
Displaced populations and exacerbated food insecurity
These phenomena have consequences not only on the environment, but also on human lives. In 2022, extreme events have forced many populations to move. In Somalia, for example, “nearly 1.2 million people have been internally displaced due to the catastrophic effects of the drought on the livelihoods of herders and farmers and the famine that has plagued them” over the past year, reports the WMO.
Another impact on human lives highlighted by the report: undernourishment. If she was also “exacerbated” by other factors, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, global warming has also affected the resources necessary for many populations.
“In 2021, 2.3 billion people faced food insecurity, including 924 million in a severe form”, describes the OMM, specifying that a large part is in Asia and Africa. To illustrate the impact of climate change in particular, the report refers to the heat waves that hit India and Pakistan before the 2022 monsoon, causing “a decline in agricultural yields”.