April 19, local time, the World Meteorological Organization released the State of the Global Climate 2020 report. The report notes that extreme weather in 2020, coupled with a Covid-19, will hit millions of people, and that the recession associated with the outbreak has failed to contain the drivers of climate change and its accelerating impact.
The State of the Global Climate 2020 report documents climate system indicators, including greenhouse gas concentrations, rising land and sea temperatures, rising sea levels, melting ice and glacier retreats, and extreme weather. The report also highlights the impact on socio-economic development, migration and displacement, food security and terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
Despite the cooling La Nina, 2020 is still one of the three warmest years on record, the report said. The global average temperature is about 1.2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels (1850-1900). The six years since 2015 have been the warmest on record, and 2011-2020 has been the warmest decade on record.
“It is 28 years since the World Meteorological Organization issued its first state of the climate report in 1993, when it was issued out of concern for possible climate change,” said World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Taras. Although the understanding and computing power of the climate system have improved since then, the basic information has remained unchanged, and we now have more than 28 years of data showing significant increases in land and ocean temperatures and other changes, such as sea level rise, melting sea ice and glaciers, and changes in precipitation patterns. This highlights the robustness of climate science based on the laws of physics that govern the behavior of the climate system. ”
At a press conference held on the same day, WMO Secretary-General Taras and UN Secretary-General Guterres jointly released the world meteorological organization’s flagship report. “This report shows that we don’t have time to waste,” Mr Guterres said. The climate is changing, and its effects have taken a heavy toll on humanity and the planet. This is the year of action. All countries need to commit to net zero emissions by 2050 and submit their ambitious national climate plans by the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference to jointly reduce global emissions by 45 per cent from 2010 levels by 2030. Countries need to take immediate action to protect humanity from the catastrophic effects of climate change. ”
According to the report, the 2020 new coronavirus outbreak has added new adverse effects to weather, climate and water-related disasters, with wide-ranging and integrated impacts on human health and well-being. Restrictions on movement of persons, economic recession and damage to the agricultural sector have exacerbated the impact of extreme weather and weather events on the entire food supply chain, increased food insecurity and impeded the provision of humanitarian assistance. The outbreak also disrupted weather observations and complicated disaster risk reduction efforts.
The report also illustrates how climate change poses risks to the achievement of many sustainable development goals through cascading chains of interrelated events. These aspects contribute to the current increase or deterioration of inequality. In addition, there is a possibility of a feedback loop that indicates a vicious cycle of climate change that will continue.
The State of the Global Climate 2020 report was released ahead of the Leaders’ Climate Summit on April 22-23 and updates the interim report.
