A report released at the COP27 in Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt, by the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization has revealed that the previous eight years are set to become the eight warmest ever recorded. The report has also suggested that the rise of sea level has doubled since 1993.
“The greater the warming, the worse the impacts. We have such high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere now that the lower 1.5 degree Celsius of the Paris Agreement is barely within reach,” Jukka Petteri Taalas, the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization said.
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The worldwide mean temperature for 2022 has been estimated at 1.16 degrees Celsius, which is more than the average temperature of pre-industrial times between 1850-1900.
The report which was released at COP27 also said that snow did not outlast the summer season in the highest measurement locations, which was the first time in recorded history. As per the report, in the last two years, since January 2020, sea levels have risen almost 10 millimetres till 2022, which is also a new record. The previous two and half years also have witnessed about 10% of the total rise of the sea level in the last 30 years, since satellite measurements began.
“It’s already too late for many glaciers and the melting will continue for hundreds if not thousands of years, with major implications for water security,” Professor Taalas quipped.
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The European Alps have been affected heavily in 2022, as the range has witnessed record-breaking melt. The most prevalent greenhouse gases had reached record levels in the previous year, including methane, the concentration of which was the most in recorded history.
As per the report, the frequency of marine heatwaves has also increased in recent years. The report said that more than half of the total ocean surface on earth (55%), witnessed marine heatwaves in the ongoing year, compared to 22% of a marine cold spell.