November 21, 2024 11:51 (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Amid standoff with Delhi, Canada implements extra security screening for fliers travelling to India | Maharashtra polls: Ex-cop accuses Supriya Sule of being involved in Bitcoin scam, BJP says opposition 'unmasked' | PM Modi urges swift extradition of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi in talks with UK PM Starmer at G20 summit: Report | G20 Summit: Narendra Modi, Macron discuss ways to advance India-France Strategic Partnership during meeting in Brazil | MeToo case: SC grants anticipatory bail to Malayalam actor Siddique noting 'complainant posted on Facebook but not reached Hema Committee'
WMO alerts 2024 is on track to be the hottest year on record
Hottest Year
2024 is set to become the hottest year on record. Photo Courtesy: Unsplash

WMO alerts 2024 is on track to be the hottest year on record

| @indiablooms | 12 Nov 2024, 08:29 am

The year 2024 is on course to become the hottest year ever recorded on Earth, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) on Monday.

The WMO State of the Climate 2024 Update once again issues a Red Alert at the sheer pace of climate change in a single generation, turbo-charged by ever-increasing greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere.

"2015-2024 will be the warmest ten years on record; the loss of ice from glaciers, sea-level rise and ocean heating are accelerating; and extreme weather is wreaking havoc on communities and economies across the world," read the WMO website.

The January – September 2024 global mean surface air temperature was 1.54 °C (with a margin of uncertainty of ±0.13°C) above the pre-industrial average, boosted by a warming El Niño event, according to an analysis of six international datasets used by WMO.

“Climate catastrophe is hammering health, widening inequalities, harming sustainable development, and rocking the foundations of peace. The vulnerable are hardest hit,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

The report was issued on the first day of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan. It highlights that the ambitions of the Paris Agreement are in great peril.

“As monthly and annual warming temporarily surpass 1.5°C, it is important to emphasize that this does NOT mean that we have failed to meet Paris Agreement goal to keep the long- term global average surface temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the warming to 1.5°C,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo.

“Recorded global temperature anomalies at daily, monthly and annual timescales are prone to large variations, partly because of natural phenomenon such as El Niño and La Niña. They should not be equated to the long-term temperature goal set in the Paris Agreement, which refers to global temperature levels sustained as an average over decades,” she said.

“However, it is essential to recognize that every fraction of a degree of warming matters. Whether it is at a level below or above 1.5°C of warming, every additional increment of global warming increases climate extremes, impacts and risks,” said Celeste Saulo.

“The record-breaking rainfall and flooding, rapidly intensifying tropical cyclones, deadly heat, relentless drought and raging wildfires that we have seen in different parts of the world this year are unfortunately our new reality and a foretaste of our future,” said Celeste Saulo. “We urgently need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen our monitoring and understanding of our changing climate. We need to step up support for climate change adaptation through climate information services and Early Warnings for All,” she said.

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.