Droughts, floods, heat – millions of people are affected by extreme weather this year. If global warming exceeds 1.5 degrees, there is a risk that dangerous tipping points will be exceeded.
According to the World Weather Organization (WMO), extreme weather events this year have affected millions of people and cost billions. Up to 19.3 million people were affected by insecure or inadequate access to food as a result of extremely prolonged droughts in east Africa by mid-year, according to a WMO report on the current state of the climate released on Sunday. The flood disaster in Pakistan cost at least 1,700 lives in late summer and drove almost eight million people from their homes.
According to the World Weather Organization, the past eight years are the warmest of the records. The global average temperature was recently estimated to be around 1.15 degrees above the pre-industrial average. The weather phenomenon La Niña has reduced the temperatures somewhat, so that 2022 will only be included in the statistics as the fifth or sixth warmest year, according to the report. However, it is only a matter of time before a new heat record year is measured.
According to the WMO, the concentration of the most important greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) – reached a new high in 2021, and the increase in methane was even greater than ever. The concentration of all three gases in the atmosphere continued to rise in the current year. “We have such high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that the 1.5-degree target is hardly within reach,” said Secretary General Petteri Taalas. The higher the global warming, the worse the effects would be.
According to climate researchers, global warming must 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, but is far from doing enough to implement it politically. dpa
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