Latest news with #BenChurchill
RNZ News
6 days ago
- Climate
- RNZ News
Report on South West Pacific climate prompts plea to public, governments
South West Pacific region includes New Zealand. Photo: AFP PHOTO/Torsten BLACKWOOD A new report into the climate of the South West Pacific - including New Zealand - shows "shocking" changes, World Meteorological Organisation's director for the region says. Last year was the hottest year on record for the South West Pacific region. Average temperatures in the region were about half a degree Celsius above even the comparatively recent 1991-2020 average, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said. The WMO earlier said that 2024 was the hottest for the planet as a whole across all of its different datasets. Dunedin's floods in October received a mention among the year's extreme weather. WMO's director for the region Ben Churchill said the organisation's 2024 report into the state of the climate in the South-West Pacific showed "alarming" changes. He said the reports "unprecedented" findings were shocking and should be used to pressure governments to cut greenhouse gas emissions. "We keep talking about things that we've never seen before, and this [report] just continues that trend," Churchill said. "Really what we want to see is that this report is spread far and wide by this community, by the media, but picked up by decision makers and policy makers and understood by sectors that are particularly vulnerable to climate, but even just the general community, so they understand what is at stake what is happening in their part of the world at a regional perhaps they could use it to encourage their governments to take stronger climate action. "Lives are being lost and still the economic impact continues to go up." Both ends of New Zealand were singled out for their unusual rainfall patterns - the north being unusually dry and the south unusually wet. The report said the Philippines was hammered by an unprecedented 12 storms during the September-November tropical cyclone season - more than double the average. In the space of less than four weeks, five tropical cyclones made landfall in the Philippines, killing 150 people. Nearly 40 million km2 of ocean was affected by marine heatwaves - more than 10 percent of the global ocean surface area, or almost the size of the Asian continent, the report said. WMO earlier said every one of the years from 2015 to 2024 were one of the 10 warmest on record globally. A slip in Dunedin on 7 October after massive downpours caused floods, landslides and road closures. Photo: RNZ / Charlotte Cook Dunedin's floods in October were on the list of extreme events, along with heatwaves in Australia and Malaysia and other events. During the storms, Dunedin residents said the flooding was like nothing they'd seen . The Philippines was hammered by storms. "In the space of less than four weeks there were five tropical cyclones that made landfall in the Philippines and a sixth that didn't quite make landfall but still was close enough to have significant impacts on land, and that's a sequence that hasn't been seen before in that region," one of the report's lead authors, Australian climate scientist Blair Trewin said. "There were 150 deaths in total in the Philippines from this sequence of cyclones and very extensive economic losses to agriculture and elsewhere." Trewin said while said 150 deaths were tragic and shocking, early warnings had saved more lives from being lost and he urged countries to get behind implementing early warning systems. WMO lead author Thea Turkington said 2024's record year for heating in the South West Pacific region was reflected across every indicator the WMO measures - including ice, rainfall, oceans, overall temperatures and extreme events. Malaysia, Indonesia, the northern Philippines, northern Australia, eastern Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands were also extra wet, while the southern coast of Australia, the Cook Islands, the Marshall Islands and Hawaii were extra dry. "For every one degree of warming in the atmosphere the atmosphere can hold an extra 7 percent of moisture, so we are seeing these extreme situations both in terms of rainfall but also on the other end of the scale we are seeing extreme drought," Churchill said. "The global warming is actually changing the water cycle quite significantly so every fraction of a degree has an impact and it really highlights the importance of more ambitious climate action." Churchill added that when storms were hitting the Philippines with such frequency "no one can really prepare for that," despite what he called "commendable" use of early warning systems. He said it would be harder for the Pacific Islands to recover economically from the impacts of climate change, because of their vulnerability. The report also provided an update on one of the world's last remaining tropical glaciers in West Papua, which Turkington said could be gone as soon as 2026. "In Indonesia, glacier ice loss continued rapidly in 2024, with the total ice area in the western part of New Guinea declining by 30-50 percent since 2022," the report said. Atmospheric concentrations of the three major greenhouse gases reached new record observed highs in 2023, the latest year for which global figures are available. Sea level rise and ocean warming had accelerated in the region, the report said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
The Advertiser
6 days ago
- Climate
- The Advertiser
'Deadly and destructive': Australia's nearest glaciers are about to vanish
Some time in 2026 the final icy remnants of one of the last tropical glaciers in the Asia Pacific will melt away, shrouded in clouds, above West Papua. In a little over two years the total ice area on the Sudirman Range north of Australia - home to the highest island peak in the world - shrank by up to 50 per cent. "If this rate persists, total ice loss is expected in 2026 or very soon thereafter," the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) revealed in its 2024 State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific report. Released on June 5 - World Environment Day - the climate report card confirmed 2024 was the warmest on record for the region, punctuated by record-breaking rain, temperatures and marine heat waves. From Australia's hottest-ever summer temperature recorded at 49.9°C in Western Australia's Carnarvon to 315mm of rainfall over just four days in the Northern Territory, 2024 was a year of extremes. It was also the first year to top the critical 1.5 degrees of warming above pre-industrial levels, though an individual year with that temperature rise is not alone enough to declare Earth has passed the threshold. "It's absolutely true that we're already starting to see individual years with global temperatures more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial [levels]; 2024 was likely the first of those," one of the report's lead authors, Dr Blair Trewin, said. "It's clear that we're getting quite close to warming at that 1.5 degree level," he said. "At current warming trends that level will be reached within the next five to 10 years." WMO regional director Ben Churchill said this was because a warmer atmosphere held more moisture. "For every one degree of warming in the atmosphere the atmosphere can hold an extra seven per cent of moisture," he said. "And so we're seeing these extreme situations both in terms of rainfall, but also on the other end of the scale - we're seeing extreme drought." The report identified the southern coast of Australia as particularly hard hit by low rainfall. "Global warming is actually changing the water cycle quite significantly," Mr Churchill said. But unprecedented marine heatwaves were also a feature of 2024, affecting nearly 40 million square kilometres of ocean - the largest area since 1993. Severe hotspots were recorded off Australia's east coast and southern parts of the Tasman Sea. "Averaged over the region as a whole, sea surface temperatures reached record highs in 2024 by a substantial margin," Dr Blair Trewin said. "That has significant implications for marine ecosystems and, in particular, corals which are very sensitive to excess heat were quite significantly stressed by the marine heat waves in various parts of the region." The World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef suffered widespread and severe coral bleaching in 2024. "We have seen some quite significant impacts of marine heatwaves on fisheries in Tasmania, for example," he said. Ocean warming helps sea levels rise and changes ocean currents, storm paths and marine ecosystems. And the sea is rising faster around Australia than in other parts of the world. "Sea level is rising, in general, faster in this region over the last 30 years [than] the global average," Dr Trewin said. "That increase in sea level has been reflected by an increase in the frequency of coastal flooding and inundation." Warming temperatures were also affecting Australia's snow seasons, which were ending earlier than in the past. Spencers Creek near Perisher Valley in NSW reached a peak depth of 1.23 metres in late July 2024 - 35 per cent below average. WMO regional director Ben Churchill said the latest climate snapshot was another wake up call. "We keep talking about things that we've never seen before, and this just continues that trend," he said. "Widespread extreme rainfall and flooding caused deadly and destructive impacts in Australia, New Zealand, and also countries in the Pacific, and also in south-east Asia," Mr Churchill said. "This has been driven by carbon emissions which are continuing unabated, so this is a message for stronger climate action, not just in this region, but globally. "It's an alarming report, but it is really - again - a wake-up call for stronger climate action." The World Meteorological Organisation is the United Nations' agency for weather, climate and water. Got something to say? Leave a comment below or email the journalist on Some time in 2026 the final icy remnants of one of the last tropical glaciers in the Asia Pacific will melt away, shrouded in clouds, above West Papua. In a little over two years the total ice area on the Sudirman Range north of Australia - home to the highest island peak in the world - shrank by up to 50 per cent. "If this rate persists, total ice loss is expected in 2026 or very soon thereafter," the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) revealed in its 2024 State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific report. Released on June 5 - World Environment Day - the climate report card confirmed 2024 was the warmest on record for the region, punctuated by record-breaking rain, temperatures and marine heat waves. From Australia's hottest-ever summer temperature recorded at 49.9°C in Western Australia's Carnarvon to 315mm of rainfall over just four days in the Northern Territory, 2024 was a year of extremes. It was also the first year to top the critical 1.5 degrees of warming above pre-industrial levels, though an individual year with that temperature rise is not alone enough to declare Earth has passed the threshold. "It's absolutely true that we're already starting to see individual years with global temperatures more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial [levels]; 2024 was likely the first of those," one of the report's lead authors, Dr Blair Trewin, said. "It's clear that we're getting quite close to warming at that 1.5 degree level," he said. "At current warming trends that level will be reached within the next five to 10 years." WMO regional director Ben Churchill said this was because a warmer atmosphere held more moisture. "For every one degree of warming in the atmosphere the atmosphere can hold an extra seven per cent of moisture," he said. "And so we're seeing these extreme situations both in terms of rainfall, but also on the other end of the scale - we're seeing extreme drought." The report identified the southern coast of Australia as particularly hard hit by low rainfall. "Global warming is actually changing the water cycle quite significantly," Mr Churchill said. But unprecedented marine heatwaves were also a feature of 2024, affecting nearly 40 million square kilometres of ocean - the largest area since 1993. Severe hotspots were recorded off Australia's east coast and southern parts of the Tasman Sea. "Averaged over the region as a whole, sea surface temperatures reached record highs in 2024 by a substantial margin," Dr Blair Trewin said. "That has significant implications for marine ecosystems and, in particular, corals which are very sensitive to excess heat were quite significantly stressed by the marine heat waves in various parts of the region." The World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef suffered widespread and severe coral bleaching in 2024. "We have seen some quite significant impacts of marine heatwaves on fisheries in Tasmania, for example," he said. Ocean warming helps sea levels rise and changes ocean currents, storm paths and marine ecosystems. And the sea is rising faster around Australia than in other parts of the world. "Sea level is rising, in general, faster in this region over the last 30 years [than] the global average," Dr Trewin said. "That increase in sea level has been reflected by an increase in the frequency of coastal flooding and inundation." Warming temperatures were also affecting Australia's snow seasons, which were ending earlier than in the past. Spencers Creek near Perisher Valley in NSW reached a peak depth of 1.23 metres in late July 2024 - 35 per cent below average. WMO regional director Ben Churchill said the latest climate snapshot was another wake up call. "We keep talking about things that we've never seen before, and this just continues that trend," he said. "Widespread extreme rainfall and flooding caused deadly and destructive impacts in Australia, New Zealand, and also countries in the Pacific, and also in south-east Asia," Mr Churchill said. "This has been driven by carbon emissions which are continuing unabated, so this is a message for stronger climate action, not just in this region, but globally. "It's an alarming report, but it is really - again - a wake-up call for stronger climate action." The World Meteorological Organisation is the United Nations' agency for weather, climate and water. Got something to say? Leave a comment below or email the journalist on Some time in 2026 the final icy remnants of one of the last tropical glaciers in the Asia Pacific will melt away, shrouded in clouds, above West Papua. In a little over two years the total ice area on the Sudirman Range north of Australia - home to the highest island peak in the world - shrank by up to 50 per cent. "If this rate persists, total ice loss is expected in 2026 or very soon thereafter," the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) revealed in its 2024 State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific report. Released on June 5 - World Environment Day - the climate report card confirmed 2024 was the warmest on record for the region, punctuated by record-breaking rain, temperatures and marine heat waves. From Australia's hottest-ever summer temperature recorded at 49.9°C in Western Australia's Carnarvon to 315mm of rainfall over just four days in the Northern Territory, 2024 was a year of extremes. It was also the first year to top the critical 1.5 degrees of warming above pre-industrial levels, though an individual year with that temperature rise is not alone enough to declare Earth has passed the threshold. "It's absolutely true that we're already starting to see individual years with global temperatures more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial [levels]; 2024 was likely the first of those," one of the report's lead authors, Dr Blair Trewin, said. "It's clear that we're getting quite close to warming at that 1.5 degree level," he said. "At current warming trends that level will be reached within the next five to 10 years." WMO regional director Ben Churchill said this was because a warmer atmosphere held more moisture. "For every one degree of warming in the atmosphere the atmosphere can hold an extra seven per cent of moisture," he said. "And so we're seeing these extreme situations both in terms of rainfall, but also on the other end of the scale - we're seeing extreme drought." The report identified the southern coast of Australia as particularly hard hit by low rainfall. "Global warming is actually changing the water cycle quite significantly," Mr Churchill said. But unprecedented marine heatwaves were also a feature of 2024, affecting nearly 40 million square kilometres of ocean - the largest area since 1993. Severe hotspots were recorded off Australia's east coast and southern parts of the Tasman Sea. "Averaged over the region as a whole, sea surface temperatures reached record highs in 2024 by a substantial margin," Dr Blair Trewin said. "That has significant implications for marine ecosystems and, in particular, corals which are very sensitive to excess heat were quite significantly stressed by the marine heat waves in various parts of the region." The World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef suffered widespread and severe coral bleaching in 2024. "We have seen some quite significant impacts of marine heatwaves on fisheries in Tasmania, for example," he said. Ocean warming helps sea levels rise and changes ocean currents, storm paths and marine ecosystems. And the sea is rising faster around Australia than in other parts of the world. "Sea level is rising, in general, faster in this region over the last 30 years [than] the global average," Dr Trewin said. "That increase in sea level has been reflected by an increase in the frequency of coastal flooding and inundation." Warming temperatures were also affecting Australia's snow seasons, which were ending earlier than in the past. Spencers Creek near Perisher Valley in NSW reached a peak depth of 1.23 metres in late July 2024 - 35 per cent below average. WMO regional director Ben Churchill said the latest climate snapshot was another wake up call. "We keep talking about things that we've never seen before, and this just continues that trend," he said. "Widespread extreme rainfall and flooding caused deadly and destructive impacts in Australia, New Zealand, and also countries in the Pacific, and also in south-east Asia," Mr Churchill said. "This has been driven by carbon emissions which are continuing unabated, so this is a message for stronger climate action, not just in this region, but globally. "It's an alarming report, but it is really - again - a wake-up call for stronger climate action." The World Meteorological Organisation is the United Nations' agency for weather, climate and water. Got something to say? Leave a comment below or email the journalist on Some time in 2026 the final icy remnants of one of the last tropical glaciers in the Asia Pacific will melt away, shrouded in clouds, above West Papua. In a little over two years the total ice area on the Sudirman Range north of Australia - home to the highest island peak in the world - shrank by up to 50 per cent. "If this rate persists, total ice loss is expected in 2026 or very soon thereafter," the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) revealed in its 2024 State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific report. Released on June 5 - World Environment Day - the climate report card confirmed 2024 was the warmest on record for the region, punctuated by record-breaking rain, temperatures and marine heat waves. From Australia's hottest-ever summer temperature recorded at 49.9°C in Western Australia's Carnarvon to 315mm of rainfall over just four days in the Northern Territory, 2024 was a year of extremes. It was also the first year to top the critical 1.5 degrees of warming above pre-industrial levels, though an individual year with that temperature rise is not alone enough to declare Earth has passed the threshold. "It's absolutely true that we're already starting to see individual years with global temperatures more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial [levels]; 2024 was likely the first of those," one of the report's lead authors, Dr Blair Trewin, said. "It's clear that we're getting quite close to warming at that 1.5 degree level," he said. "At current warming trends that level will be reached within the next five to 10 years." WMO regional director Ben Churchill said this was because a warmer atmosphere held more moisture. "For every one degree of warming in the atmosphere the atmosphere can hold an extra seven per cent of moisture," he said. "And so we're seeing these extreme situations both in terms of rainfall, but also on the other end of the scale - we're seeing extreme drought." The report identified the southern coast of Australia as particularly hard hit by low rainfall. "Global warming is actually changing the water cycle quite significantly," Mr Churchill said. But unprecedented marine heatwaves were also a feature of 2024, affecting nearly 40 million square kilometres of ocean - the largest area since 1993. Severe hotspots were recorded off Australia's east coast and southern parts of the Tasman Sea. "Averaged over the region as a whole, sea surface temperatures reached record highs in 2024 by a substantial margin," Dr Blair Trewin said. "That has significant implications for marine ecosystems and, in particular, corals which are very sensitive to excess heat were quite significantly stressed by the marine heat waves in various parts of the region." The World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef suffered widespread and severe coral bleaching in 2024. "We have seen some quite significant impacts of marine heatwaves on fisheries in Tasmania, for example," he said. Ocean warming helps sea levels rise and changes ocean currents, storm paths and marine ecosystems. And the sea is rising faster around Australia than in other parts of the world. "Sea level is rising, in general, faster in this region over the last 30 years [than] the global average," Dr Trewin said. "That increase in sea level has been reflected by an increase in the frequency of coastal flooding and inundation." Warming temperatures were also affecting Australia's snow seasons, which were ending earlier than in the past. Spencers Creek near Perisher Valley in NSW reached a peak depth of 1.23 metres in late July 2024 - 35 per cent below average. WMO regional director Ben Churchill said the latest climate snapshot was another wake up call. "We keep talking about things that we've never seen before, and this just continues that trend," he said. "Widespread extreme rainfall and flooding caused deadly and destructive impacts in Australia, New Zealand, and also countries in the Pacific, and also in south-east Asia," Mr Churchill said. "This has been driven by carbon emissions which are continuing unabated, so this is a message for stronger climate action, not just in this region, but globally. "It's an alarming report, but it is really - again - a wake-up call for stronger climate action." The World Meteorological Organisation is the United Nations' agency for weather, climate and water. Got something to say? Leave a comment below or email the journalist on
SBS Australia
6 days ago
- Climate
- SBS Australia
Mapping the effects of extreme weather in our region
Sixteen experts from across different areas of expertise contributed to the report, titled State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific, produced by the World Meteorological Organisation, or WMO. The WMO is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for sharing knowledge internationally on the status of the Earth's atmosphere and its interaction with oceans, lands and climate. This report specifically looks at weather events in our region and the impact of these events on public health, ecosystems and economies. One of the key findings in the report was that in 2024, ocean warming in the South-West Pacific had reached unprecedented levels. Ben Churchill is the Director of the Regional Office for Asia and the South-West Pacific at the WMO. "Average for the region as a whole, sea surface temperatures reached record highs in 2024 by a substantial margin, and part of that is the result of the El Nino event finished in 2024. But a large part of it relates to the background warming trend, which over the last 40 years is in the order of 0.13 of the degree per decade. We see some areas are particularly strong warming in the region, particularly in the parts of the southern Tasman sea off the east coast of Australia and in areas of the South Pacific of New Zealand. But most of the region has seen warming sea surface temperatures except for some parts of the far east of the region." The last year also saw extreme rainfall and subsequent flooding, impacting Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. The report says that a significant proportion of the population of Pacific Islands live close to the coast, making any rise in sea-levels a particular threat to these communities. Extreme heat also affected large parts of the region in 2024 with the record breaking temperatures causing the rapid loss of glacier ice in the region. Ben Churchill is the Director of the Regional Office for Asia and the South-West Pacific at the WMO. "In Indonesia glacier ice loss continued rapidly in 2024. We've seen declines of 30 to 50 per cent since 2022. In 2024, ocean warming in the southwest Pacific reached unprecedented levels. Sea level rise continues and across the region exceeded the global average and especially threatening low lying Pacific Islands. And noting here that half the population in this region live within 500 meters of the coast. So putting them at a greater level of risk, widespread extreme rainfall and flooding caused deadly and destructive impacts in Australia, New Zealand, and also countries in the Pacific and also in Southeast Asia." How well-prepared has Australia and other countries in the region been in anticipating and mitigating these events? The report says the Philippines saw 12 storms between September-November 2024. Ben Churchill says that country's early warning systems allowed communities to better prepare and respond to the storms. "We are also part of a major United Nations initiative, early warnings for all in partnership with the United Nations office, disaster risk reduction, the International Telecommunication Union and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. And the key message here is that strengthened early warning systems and its reaction in the Philippines as was outlined by Blair, actually enabled communities to prepare and respond to this unprecedented number of tropical cyclones and storms which help to protect lives and ensure dignified timely support." A 2024 State of the Climate report found Australia's climate has warmed by an average of 1.5C since national records began in 1902. University of Melbourne Emeritus Professor David Karoly is also a councillor with the Climate Institute. He says Australia saw record high temperatures in 2024 and the early part of 2025, with global average temperatures also higher than average. "They've contributed to record high amounts of water vapor in the atmosphere and obviously higher amounts of water vapor lead to extreme rainfall amounts and that's what the ocean temperatures, the high ocean temperatures have led to record flooding cases like in Taree in New South Wales in the May period. But equally, we've also had some extreme weather events like Tropical Cyclone Alfred that tracked from the Coral Sea region towards the southeast Queensland coast." Professor Karol says this led to very high rainfall amounts in southeast Queensland as well as the northeast New South Wales region. That led to massive erosion of beaches in Queensland, particularly the Sunshine Coast, the Gold Coast, and the northern parts of New South Wales. As far as how prepared Australia is to deal with these challenges, Professor Karol says the Albanese government has been preparing a national climate risk assessment. "It was due out before the federal election in 2025, but its release was delayed for reasons why it was delayed, you'd have to ask the Albanese government. The suggestion is that it was too scary and therefore they decided not to release it before the election. But there's also a national climate adaptation plan that was due out at as soon as possible after that national climate risk assessment was released. And that has also not been released yet. And that was the plans for adapting to these sorts of increasing extreme weather events in Australia and planning for those."
