Status: 11/06/2022 4:11 p.m
In its climate report, the World Meteorological Organization lists alarming developments: Recently, there have been record highs in the warming of the oceans, the melting of the Alpine glaciers and the rise in sea levels.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has in its preliminary annual report on the state of the world climate, the momentous effects of progressive global warming summarized in new figures. According to current data, each of the past eight years has been hotter than any previous on record, the WMO report said.
According to current estimates by scientists, the global average temperature is 1.15 degrees above the average for the years 1850 to 1900. “While COP27 starts, our planet is sending out an emergency signal,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres with a view to the start of the COP27 climate change conference. The WMO report is the “chronicle of a climate chaos”.
According to the WMO, the weather phenomenon La Niña has reduced the temperatures somewhat this year, so that 2022 will only be included in the statistics as the fifth or sixth warmest year since records began, according to the report. However, it is only a matter of time before a new heat record year is measured. The La Niña weather phenomenon, which occurs every few years, lowers the global average temperature because the upper water layers of the tropical east Pacific cool down unusually.
Warmer oceans, melting ice
The researchers listed a number of worrying developments in their report. Ocean warming reached a new record in 2021, according to the report. In February of this year, the extent of sea ice in the Antarctic was the smallest ever measured, around two-thirds of the long-term average. The rate of sea level rise has doubled since 1993. Since January 2020 alone, sea level has risen by almost ten millimetres. The increase over the past two and a half years accounts for ten percent of the total increase over the past almost 30 years, in which this has been observed using satellite measurements. This acceleration is mainly due to the melting ice. This is an enormous threat for coastal regions and low-lying states.
The melting of the glaciers accelerated enormously in 2022. According to the WMO, the ice thickness of the glaciers in the Alps reduced by an average of three to four meters, significantly more than in the previous record year 2003. The Greenland ice sheet melted for the 26th year in a row, and rain fell for the first time at the highest point of the ice sheet in August 2021 Snow. In Switzerland, the volume of glaciers has decreased by more than a third over the past 20 years. For the first time in history, even at the highest measuring stations in the Swiss Alps, there was no snow over the summer. “For many glaciers it is already too late and melting will continue for hundreds if not thousands of years with huge implications for water supplies,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.
Peak concentration of greenhouse gases
The concentration of the most important greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) – reached a new high in 2021. In the case of methane, the increase was even greater than ever. In 2022, the concentration of all three gases in the atmosphere continued to rise. “We have such high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that the 1.5-degree target is barely within reach,” explained Taalas. According to climate researchers, global warming should be stopped at 1.5 degrees to avoid crossing dangerous tipping points and averting the most catastrophic consequences of climate change. The international community has agreed on this goal. According to current knowledge, however, the measures introduced so far are far from sufficient to actually achieve this goal.
All too often those who contribute least to climate change suffer the most, said the WMO Secretary-General, referring to the floods in Pakistan and the drought in the Horn of Africa. “The greater the warming, the greater the impact,” Taalas summarized. Even well-armed societies experienced destruction, such as the ongoing heat waves in Europe and southern China. Increasing extreme weather made early warning systems all the more important, Taalas said. Currently, half of all countries lack these. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will present a corresponding action plan at the world climate conference.
The WMO published its preliminary “State of the Global Climate Report 2022” on the occasion of the COP27 climate conference, which has been taking place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, since today and will continue until November 18th. The final report is scheduled for April 2023.