“Chronicle of climate chaos”

According to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) preliminary 2022 State of the Climate Report, global temperatures this year are likely to exceed the average by about 1.15 °C, making it the fifth or sixth hottest year on record.

“The latest global climate report is a chronicle of climate chaos,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the opening of the annual UN climate summit COP27. — Change is occurring at catastrophic speed, depriving lives and livelihoods on every continent."

A preliminary report shows that ice melting worldwide is accelerating. The area covered by ice in Antarctica reached a record low in February 2022, almost 1 million square kilometres below the long-term average. In contrast, the Arctic, on the other hand, saw moderate sea ice melt during the summer. In Switzerland, the total volume of glacier decreased by 6% this year, but has fallen by more than a third since 2001. The melting of the glacier has caused the sea level to rise by 10 millimetres in the last two years alone, an increase of about 10% since satellite measurements began in 1993.

The report also says that the concentration of anthropogenic greenhouse gases causing global warming continues to rise in the atmosphere, with gases already at an all-time high in 2021. Climate change has led to natural disasters such as floods, heat waves and hurricanes that have killed thousands of people, forced tens of thousands to migrate and forced millions of people to face severe food shortages.

The drought in East Africa, recognised as the longest dry spell in 40 years, continued. Some 19 million people faced severe food shortages, many were forced to flee hunger, but there was also not enough food for everyone in refugee camps due to funding shortages and rising food prices.

Pakistan was hit by devastating rains. Within a week, a third of the country was under water, killing at least 1,700 people. China, not far from Pakistan, was hit by a record-breaking heatwave, as well as the second driest summer on record. In Europe, a heat wave caused thousands of deaths.

The UN has called on leaders of all governments to agree on universal early warning systems within five years to help protect the world’s most vulnerable people from extreme weather events caused by climate change.

“People and communities everywhere must be protected from the immediate and ever-growing risks of climate emergencies,” Guterres said. — We must respond to our planet’s distress signal with action, ambitious and credible action to combat climate change."

Cover photo: Bloomberg / Getty Images