Climate change will trigger a wave of extreme weather events and record heat in 2024, the United Nations said on Monday, urging the world to move away from “road to ruin”.
The outgoing year will be the warmest ever recordedsaid the UN weather and climate agency, capping a decade of record heat.
Meanwhile, the greenhouse gas emissions they grew until they reached new record levelswhich will cause more heat in the future, the World Meteorological Organization said.
“Climate change manifests itself before our eyes almost daily in the form of a “increased incidence and impact of extreme weather events”stated the Secretary General of the WMO, Celeste Saulo.
“This year we have witnessed unprecedented rainfall and flooding and terrible loss of life in many countries, causing distress to communities on every continent.
“Tropical cyclones caused terrible human and economic losses, most recently in the French overseas department of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean.
“Intense heat hit dozens of countries, with temperatures exceeding 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) on several occasions. “The wildfires caused devastation.”
The 2015 Paris climate agreements were intended to The goal was to limit global warming to well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and to 1.5°C if possible.
In November, the WMO said the average surface air temperature between January and September was 1.54°C higher than the pre-industrial average measured between 1850 and 1900.
That puts 2024 comfortably on track to surpass the record set in 2023.
He Last year temperatures were 1.45 °C higher than before the industrial revolutionwhen humanity began burning large amounts of fossil fuels.
The WMO will publish the consolidated global temperature figure for 2024 in January, and its full State of the Global Climate 2024 report will be published in March.
In his New Year message, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterresreflected on the record temperatures observed over the last decade.
“Today I can officially report that we just endured a decade of deadly heat. The 10 warmest years on record have occurred in the last 10 years, including 2024“, said.
“This is climate collapse in real time.” “We must get off this path to ruin and we have no time to waste,” he said.
(with information from AFP)
