Last Eight Years On Track To Be The Hottest On Record
Report released ahead of COP27
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Ever-rising greenhouse gas emissions and accumulated heat has contributed to the past eight years being on track to being the eight warmest on record.
The global mean temperature in 2022 is currently estimated to be about 1.15 (1.02 to 1.28) °C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average, while 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.
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The latest report by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) is an accompanying interactive story map for the UN climate negotiations in Sharm-El-Sheikh, COP27, and reveals the “dramatic tell-tale signs” of climate change are becoming more evident.
Sea level rise rate has doubled since 1993, rising by nearly 10 mm since January 2020 to a new record high this year.
Meanwhile, 2022 took an “exceptionally heavy toll” on European Alps glaciers; Greenland ice sheet lost mass for the 26th consecutive year and it rained, rather than snowed, there for the first time in September.
WMO Secretary-General Professor Petteri Taalas admitted there is so much carbon dioxide in the air that the “the lower 1.5°C of the Paris Agreement is barely within reach”.
“All too often, those least responsible for climate change suffer most – as we have seen with the terrible flooding in Pakistan and deadly, long-running drought in the Horn of Africa,” he said.
“But even well-prepared societies this year have been ravaged by extremes – as seen by the protracted heatwaves and drought in large parts of Europe and southern China.
“Increasingly extreme weather makes it more important than ever to ensure that everyone on Earth has access to life-saving early warnings.”
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