“The local weather is altering and the consequences are already too expensive to people and the planet” – Watts Up With That?

According to the World Meteorological Organization, the climate crisis is just around the corner. My question – did anyone notice the crisis?

The indicators and effects of climate change worsened in 2020

Tags: ClimateClimate change19

Released
April 19, 2021
Press release number: 19042021

Despite the cooling of La Niña, 2020 was one of the three warmest years on record

Extreme weather and COVID-19 combined in one double blow

New York / Geneva, April 19, 2021 (WMO) – Extreme weather combined with COVID-19 in a double blow to millions of people in 2020. However, the pandemic-induced economic slowdown has not been able to curb the drivers of climate change and accelerated impacts, according to one new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and an extensive partner network.

The Global Climate Status 2020 report documents indicators of the climate system, including greenhouse gas concentrations, rising land and sea temperatures, rising sea levels, retreat of melting ice and glaciers, and extreme weather. It also highlights the impact on socio-economic development, migration and displacement, food security, and land and marine ecosystems.

2020 was one of the three warmest years on record, despite a cooling La Niña event. The global average temperature was around 1.2 ° Celsius above the pre-industrial level (1850-1900). The six years since 2015 have been the warmest in history. 2011-2020 was the warmest decade in history.

“It has been 28 years since the World Meteorological Organization published the first version of the climate report in 1993 because of the concerns expressed at the time about projected climate change. While understanding of the climate system and computing power has increased since then, the basic message remains the same and we now have 28 more years of data showing significant land and sea temperature increases, as well as other changes such as sea level rise and the melting of sea ice and glaciers and changes the precipitation pattern. This underlines the robustness of climate science based on the physical laws that determine the behavior of the climate system, ”said WMO Secretary General Prof. Petteri Taalas.

“All of the key climate indicators and related impact information contained in this report demonstrate relentless, ongoing climate change, the increasing incidence and exacerbation of extreme events, and severe losses and damage affecting people, societies and economies. The negative climate trend will continue for decades to come, regardless of our success in containing it. It is therefore important to invest in customization. One of the most effective ways to customize is to invest in early warning services and weather observation networks. Some less developed countries have large gaps in their observation systems and there is a lack of state-of-the-art weather, climate and water services. “Said Prof. Taalas.

Prof. Taalas published the flagship report of the WMO together with the Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, at a press conference on April 19th. It takes place before the virtual summit of heads of state or government on climate, which is convened by the United States of America. President Biden is keen to step up efforts by major economies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change in order to keep the temperature rise well below 2 ° C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century, if possible at 1, 5 ° C.

“This report shows that we are wasting no time. The climate is changing and the effects are already too costly to humans and the planet. This is the year of action. Countries must commit to zero net emissions by 2050. Well before COP26 in Glasgow, they have to present ambitious national climate plans that will cut global emissions by 45 percent by 2010 compared to 2010. And you must act now to protect people from the catastrophic effects of climate change, ”said the UN Secretary General.

In 2020, COVID-19 added a new and undesirable dimension to weather, climate and water threats, with far-reaching combined effects on human health and wellbeing. Mobility restrictions, economic downturns and disruptions in the agricultural sector exacerbated the effects of extreme weather and climatic events along the entire food supply chain, increased food insecurity and slowed the delivery of humanitarian aid. The pandemic also disrupted weather observations and hampered efforts to reduce disaster risk.

The report shows how climate change poses a risk to the achievement of many sustainable development goals through a cascading chain of interconnected events. These can help to increase or worsen existing inequalities. In addition, there is the potential for feedback loops that appear to perpetuate the vicious cycle of climate change.

The information used in this report comes from a large number of national meteorological and hydrological services and related institutions, as well as regional climate centers. The UN partners include the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC-UNESCO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Environment Program Nations (UNEP). , UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Program (WFP) and the World Health Organization.

It updates a preliminary version published in December 2020 and is accompanied by a story map on global climate indicators.

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Read more: https://public.wmo.int/en/media/press-release/climate-change-indicators-and-impacts-worsened-2020

That’s it? Has anyone seen climate change so badly that you now want to voluntarily pay more taxes to fix it? Or does the World Meteorological Organization claim that we are already experiencing an unaffordable, expensive climate crisis that is nonsensical?