The UN chief has warned of the impacts of climate change and noted that they are "heading into uncharted territories of destruction" on the release of a multi-agency scientific report reviewing the latest research on the issue.
The report was led by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and warns that the planet is "going in the wrong direction" on climate change. The situation comes as greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise in the atmosphere and world leaders are struggling to adopt strategies to hold global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures.
The Threat of Climate Change
The world has now been bombarded with extreme weather events that have become more frequent and more intense. In a video message, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that there was nothing natural about the scale of heatwaves in Europe and massive floods in Pakistan.
The official noted that the current fossil free-for-all must end immediately, calling it a recipe for permanent climate chaos and suffering. While the world has seen reduced lockdowns for the COVID-19 pandemic, planet-warming emissions have soared beyond pre-pandemic levels, as per CNN.
Preliminary data showed that global carbon dioxide emissions in the first half of 2022 were 1.2% higher than what was recorded during the same period in 2019. The last seven years have been the warmest on record.
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The global average temperature has already increased by 1.1 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average. Scientists now expect the annual average to be anywhere between 1.1 degrees Celsius and 1.7 degrees Celsius warmer up to 2026. This means that there is a chance we could pass the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold in the next five years.
According to USA Today, Guterres noted that floods, droughts, heat waves, extreme storms, and wildfires around the world were going from "bad to worse, breaking records with alarming frequency." He also referred to prolonged and severe droughts in China, the Horn of Africa, and the United States as examples of worsening climate conditions.
Worsening Conditions
The report noted that in the last five decades, weather-related disasters have increased fivefold and are responsible for killing 115 people per day on average. Furthermore, greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise to record highs.
Officials also warn that as global warming increases, "tipping points" in the climate system cannot be ruled out. These include the melting of the polar ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica and the drying of the Amazon rainforest, among other possibilities.
The report comes after scientists made warnings last week that four climates' "tipping points" will likely be triggered if that temperature threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius is passed. Guterres argued that despite the rising threat of climate change, humans continue to double down on their "fossil fuel addiction."
The ocean current that moves heat from the tropics into the northern hemisphere is now at its slowest in the last 1,000 years, jeopardizing historic weather patterns. Furthermore, nearly half of the world's population is considered highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, including floods, heat, drought, wildfires, and storms, the Voice of America News reported.
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