Last year, theUnited Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has published a relationship gloomy about the state of our planet, highlighting the severe impact of climate change, comparing the findings with the 2021 report, which revealed that four of seven major climate indicators (concentrations of greenhouse gases, sea level rise, ocean heat and ocean acidification) had set “alarming” new records, underlining the humanity’s role in causing harmful and long-lasting effects around the world.
Furthermore, the WMO report also confirmed that the past seven years have been the seven warmest years on record.
First there are the greenhouse gas emissionsthese in fact represent the main cause of global warming and climate change, and as confirmed in the 2021 report, concentrations of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and atmospheric methane, have reached worrying new highs. In particular, atmospheric methane increased by 17 parts per million in 2021, the largest annual increase on record, here’s why reducing these emissions is essential to mitigating global warming and its disastrous effects.
Carbon dioxide, which is primarily released into the atmosphere through the burning of coal, natural gas, oil, solid waste and biological materials, is the most potent of these gases, and as greenhouse gases are released, they create a thick barrier in the atmosphere that traps heat, and reducing these releases is essential to limiting global warming. NOAA scientists also reported that this gas increased by 17 parts per billion in 2021, the largest annual increase since they began measuring in 2021. 1983 and one approximately 162% higher than pre-industrial levels.
The WMO among the various documents published, we find a report that reducing human-source methane by 45% by 2030 would have a substantial impact on global warming and keep it at 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. This would avoid nearly 0.3C of warming by 2040, the researchers said, and prevent 255,000 premature deaths, 775,000 asthma-related hospital visits and 26 million tonnes of global crop losses.
We also find similar problems in the seas and oceans, where temperatures are gradually rising and consequently their levels too. As explained in the WMO report, about 90% of the heat on Earth is stored in the ocean, and as the planet warms, the ocean warms too. Ocean heat is a significant indicator of climate change, and speaking of –negative– records, in 2021 oceanic heat reached record levels, with warming observed in the top 2,000 meters of the ocean, and it is an irreversible process.
Furthermore, by threatening marine ecosystems (this heat contributes to sea level rise, marine heat waves, melting ice and coral bleaching), fishing and the ability for people to live near coasts will suffer.
As for sea level rise, just think this is it increased to an average of 4.5 millimeters per year since 2013threatening marine ecosystems and coastal communities, and with scientists saying it is “more than double the rate” of the seven-year period from 1993 to 2002 and was mainly caused by rapid melting of sea ice, and while up to 1993 the increase was even, with global warming the regions that have been particularly affected are the western tropical Pacific, the Southwest Pacific, the North Pacific, the southwestern Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic, with WMO scientists stating:
“This has major implications for hundreds of millions of coastal dwellers and increases vulnerability to tropical cyclones.”
What other dangers is the WTO trying to warn us about?
Obviously, ocean acidification could not be omitted from the WTO report, but what does it consist of? The ocean absorbs about a quarter of the carbon dioxide emissions produced by humans, but in large concentrations this has negative consequences for the marine environment. In 2021, ocean acidification has reached unprecedented levels, making theocean more acidic than it has been in the last 26,000 years.
Acidification also affects billions of people around the world who depend on the ocean for food, money and protection, in fact when the pH level of the water decreases, it weakens the coral structures and creates corrosive conditions for some forms of marine life. This threat to marine ecosystems has a impact on about 20% of the world’s population which depends significantly on fish for food, also harming tourism and coastal protection from rising seas, in fact the more acidic the ocean becomes, the harder it is for it to absorb carbon dioxidedamaging this natural barrier to rapid global warming.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres expressed grave concern about the alarming records recorded in the WMO report, saying:
“I’ll give you the bottom line: The global energy system is broken and is bringing us ever closer to climate catastrophe. Fossil fuels are a dead end, environmentally and economically…The only sustainable future is the renewable one.”
Guterres stressed that the only path to a sustainable future is to embrace renewable energy and move away from fossil fuels. He has proposed five key actions to address the climate crisis, including massive investments in renewable energy and the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies.
Guterres, again relying on the scientific evidence of the WMO report, urged once again that the world must move away from fossil fuels and accelerate the transition to renewable energy “before we incinerate our only home,” stating:
“We don’t have a moment to waste…Time is running out.”.
Gutteres said the transformation of the world’s energy systems is a “fruit at hand” and that many technologies, including wind and solar, are already available and often cheaper to run than coal or other fossil fuels. then proposed five “fundamental” actions which can be undertaken to help:
- make renewable energy available to all;
- improve global access to renewable energy components and raw materials;
- reform domestic policy to rationalize renewable energy projects;
- eliminate subsidies for fossil fuels and instead give them to renewable energies;
- and for the world to invest at least $4 trillion annually in renewable energy through 2030.
WMO chief Petteri Taalas declared in a press conference that “it’s only a matter of time” before the world sees yet another dismal record caused by climate change, and this 2023 would appear to be right on that path, warning:
“Our climate is changing before our eyes. The heat trapped by human-induced greenhouse gases will warm the planet for many generations to come. Rising sea levels, warming oceans and acidification will continue for hundreds of years unless means are invented to remove carbon from the atmosphere.”
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