UN Weather Agency Warns of Increasing Impacts from Climate Change

In an annual report issued earlier this week, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said both temperatures and seas are rising and doing so faster than before.

According to the provisional State of the Global Climate in 2022 report, the past eight years are on track to be the eight warmest on record.  What’s more, the 10-year average for the period 2013-2022 is estimated to be 1.14 [1.02 to 1.27] °C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial baseline. This compares with 1.09°C from 2011 to 2020, as estimated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment report. And the rate of sea level rise has doubled since 1993. It has risen by nearly 10 mm since January 2020 to a new record high this year. The past two and a half years alone account for 10 percent of the overall rise in sea level since satellite measurements started nearly 30 years ago. The WMO released the report and an accompanying interactive story map on the eve of the UN Climate Change Conference, or COP27, in Sharm-El-Sheikh, Egypt. Outside experts weren’t surprised by the report and said no one should be. “What climate scientists have warned about for decades is upon us. And will continue to worsen without action,” said University of Georgia meteorology professor Marshall Shepherd. “Two things must go away: Climate delayism and speaking about climate change impacts in the future tense. It’s here.” Read more at the WMO and AP.