Climate change reached new heights in 2024, says WMO
Geneva: A new report issued by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) warned that climate change has reached new heights in 2024, with some of the consequences being irreversible over hundreds if not thousands of years.
In a statement on its website, the Organisation said, "2024 was likely the first calendar year to be more than 1.5 C above the pre-industrial era, with a global mean near-surface temperature of 1.55 0.13 C above the 1850-1900 average. This is the warmest year in the 175-year observational record."
Further, it noted that atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide are at the highest levels in the last 800,000 years, while the rate of sea level rise has doubled since satellite measurements began.
"The record global temperatures seen in 2023 and broken in 2024 were mainly due to the ongoing rise in greenhouse gas emissions, coupled with a shift from a cooling La Nina to warming El Nino event. Several other factors may have contributed to the unexpectedly unusual temperature jumps, including changes in the solar cycle, a massive volcanic eruption and a decrease in cooling aerosols," according to the report.
Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organisation Celeste Saulo said that "WMO and the global community are intensifying efforts to strengthen early warning systems and climate services to help decision-makers and society at large be more resilient to extreme weather and climate. We are making progress but need to go further and need to go faster. Only half of all countries worldwide have adequate early warning systems. This must change."
The report is based on scientific contributions from National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, WMO Regional Climate Centres, UN partners and dozens of experts.
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