{"id":73035,"date":"2024-03-19T16:53:46","date_gmt":"2024-03-19T16:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/un-warns-planet-on-the-brink-after-warmest-decade-on-record\/"},"modified":"2024-03-19T16:53:46","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T16:53:46","slug":"un-warns-planet-on-the-brink-after-warmest-decade-on-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/un-warns-planet-on-the-brink-after-warmest-decade-on-record\/","title":{"rendered":"UN warns planet \u2018on the brink\u2019 after warmest decade on record"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<p>Global temperatures \u201csmashed\u201d heat records last year, as heatwaves stalked oceans and glaciers suffered record ice loss, the United Nations said on Tuesday \u2014 warning 2024 was likely to be even hotter.<\/p>\n<p>The annual State of the Climate <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"link--external\" href=\"https:\/\/wmo.int\/news\/media-centre\/climate-change-indicators-reached-record-levels-2023-wmo\">report<\/a> by the UN\u2019s World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) confirmed preliminary data showing that 2023 was by far the hottest year ever recorded.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1804627\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>And last year was part of \u201cthe warmest 10-year period on record\u201d, the WMO weather and climate agency said, with even hotter temperatures expected going forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is a high probability that 2024 will again break the record of 2023\u201d, WMO climate monitoring chief Omar Baddour told reporters.<\/p>\n<p>Reacting to the report, UN chief Antonio Guterres said it showed \u201ca planet on the brink\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEarth\u2019s issuing a distress call,\u201d he said in a video address, pointing out that \u201cfossil fuel pollution is sending climate chaos off the charts\u201d, and warning that \u201cchanges are speeding up\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The WMO said that last year the average near-surface temperature was 1.45 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels \u2014 dangerously close to the critical 1.5\u00b0C threshold that countries agreed to avoid passing in the 2015 Paris Climate Accords.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"red-alert\" href=\"#red-alert\" class=\"heading-permalink\" aria-hidden=\"true\" title=\"Permalink\"\/>\u2018Red alert\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cNever have we been so close [\u2026] to the 1.5\u00b0C lower limit of the Paris Agreement,\u201d WMO chief Celeste Saulo warned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am now sounding the red alert about the state of the climate,\u201d she told reporters, lamenting that \u201c2023 set new records for every single climate indicator\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The organisation found that many of the records were \u201csmashed\u201d and that the numbers \u201cgave ominous new significance to the phrase \u2018off the charts\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Saulo stressed that climate change was about much more than temperatures.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we witnessed in 2023, especially with the unprecedented ocean warmth, glacier retreat and Antarctic sea ice loss, is cause for particular concern,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1773456\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>One especially worrying finding was that marine heatwaves gripped nearly a third of the global ocean on an average day last year.<\/p>\n<p>And by the end of 2023, more than 90 per cent of the ocean had experienced heatwave conditions at some point during the year, the WMO said.<\/p>\n<p>More frequent and intense marine heatwaves will have \u201cprofound negative repercussions for marine ecosystems and coral reefs\u201d, it warned.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, it warned that key glaciers worldwide <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1748919\">suffered<\/a> the largest loss of ice ever since records began in 1950, \u201cdriven by extreme melt in both western North America and Europe\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>In Switzerland, where the WMO is headquartered, Alpine glaciers had lost 10pc of their remaining volume in the past two years alone, it said.<\/p>\n<p>The Antarctic sea ice extent was also \u201cby far the lowest on record\u201d, WMO said.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"rising-sea-levels\" href=\"#rising-sea-levels\" class=\"heading-permalink\" aria-hidden=\"true\" title=\"Permalink\"\/>Rising sea levels<\/h2>\n<p>In fact, it pointed out, its maximum area at the end of the southern winter was around one million square kilometres below the previous record year \u2014 equivalent to the size of France and Germany combined.<\/p>\n<p>Ocean warming and the rapidly melting glaciers and ice sheets also drove the sea level last year to its highest point since satellite records began in 1993, WMO said.<\/p>\n<p>The agency stressed that the global mean sea level rise over the past decade (2014-2023) was more than double the rate in the first decade of satellite records.<\/p>\n<p>It highlighted that dramatic climate shifts are taking a heavy toll worldwide, fuelling extreme weather events, flooding and drought, which trigger displacement and drive up biodiversity loss and food insecurity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe climate crisis is the defining challenge that humanity faces and is closely intertwined with the inequality crisis,\u201d Saulo said.<\/p>\n<h2><a id=\"glimmer-of-hope\" href=\"#glimmer-of-hope\" class=\"heading-permalink\" aria-hidden=\"true\" title=\"Permalink\"\/>\u2018Glimmer of hope\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>The number of people who are considered acutely food insecure around the world has more than doubled, from 149 million people before the Covid-19 pandemic to 333m at the end of 2023, WMO pointed out.<\/p>\n<p>The organisation did however highlight one \u201cglimmer of hope\u201d: surging renewable energy generation.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, renewable energy generation capacity \u2014 mainly from solar, wind and hydropower \u2014 increased by nearly 50pc from 2022, it said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"media  sm:w-1\/2  w-full  media--right  media--embed  media--uneven\">\n<p>    <iframe class=\"nk-iframe\" onload=\"setInterval(()=&gt;{try{this.style.height=this.contentWindow.document.body.scrollHeight+'px';}catch{}}, 100)\" width=\"100%\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" style=\"height:400px;position:relative\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/card\/1741948\" sandbox=\"allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Guterres also emphasised that there was still time to avert a prolonged crisis.<\/p>\n<p>The world, he insisted, still has a chance to keep the planet\u2019s long-term temperature rise below the 1.5\u00b0C threshold and \u201cavoid the worst of climate chaos\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know how to do it. \u201c<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Global temperatures \u201csmashed\u201d heat records last year, as heatwaves stalked oceans and glaciers suffered record ice loss, the United Nations said on Tuesday \u2014 warning 2024 was likely to be even hotter. The annual State of the Climate report by the UN\u2019s World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) confirmed preliminary data showing that 2023 was by far [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73036,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.dawn.com\/large\/2024\/03\/1921073472d8537.jpg?r=210842","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}