(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Climate change has become more visible than ever in the past year with alarming negative records. And it could get even worse, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
This content was published on March 19, 2024 - 16:13 3 minutes Keystone-SDA
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It is quite possible that 2024 will exceed the temperature record of 2023, warned Omar Baddour, head of the climate monitoring department at the Geneva-based WMO, on Tuesday.
January 2024 was already the hottest January since the beginning of industrialisation, Baddour said at the publication of the WMO report on the state of the global climate in 2023.
“The Earth is sending out a cry for help. The report [...] shows a planet on the brink,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
Celeste Saulo, head of the WMO, spoke of a“red alert”.“Climate change is about much more than temperatures. What we witnessed in 2023, especially with the unprecedented ocean warmth, glacier retreat and Antarctic sea ice loss, is cause for particular concern,” she said.
The WMO confirmed its preliminary estimates: the globally averaged mean temperature in 2023 was around 1.45°C above pre-industrialisation levels (1850-1900). Before that, 2016 was the warmest year on record, at around plus 1.3°C.
+ Effects of 1.5°C global warming in Switzerland and beyond
According to the Federal Office of Meteorology (MeteoSwiss), 2023 was the second-warmest year in Switzerland since measurements began. In terms of temperatures, it reached a national average annual temperature of 7.2°C. Only 2022 was warmer.
The European climate change service Copernicus had indicated warming of 1.48°C in 2023. The WMO analyses data sets from Copernicus and several other renowned institutes together. As a result, its report on climate change is particularly broad-based and is regarded as a global benchmark.
+ Nine out of ten Swiss say they perceive the effects of climate change
Heatwaves and glacier melt
According to the WMO, 90% of the ocean regions experienced a heatwave over the course of the year. In addition, glaciers lost more ice than in any other year since records began in 1950, especially in North America and Europe.
The extent of Antarctic sea ice has also reached a negative record. The maximum extent was one million square kilometres smaller than the previous negative record: this corresponds to an area roughly the size of Germany and France combined.
Last year, the global average sea level was higher than at any time since satellite measurements began in 1993, and in the past ten years sea levels have risen twice as fast as in the first ten years since satellite measurements began. This is due to the melting of glaciers and sea ice as well as the thermal expansion of warmer water.
Translated from German by DeepL/ts
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