Singapore (Commonwealth Union)_ A recent multi-agency assessment coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) shows the enormous gap between ambitions and reality and concludes that climate science is unambiguous: we are moving in the wrong direction. It cautions that without considerably more aggressive action, the physical and economical effects of climate change will worsen. The United in Science research demonstrates that greenhouse gas concentrations are at all-time highs. After a brief decline brought on by lockdowns, fossil fuel emission rates have recently surpassed pre-pandemic levels. To meet the 1.5 °C objective of the Paris Agreement, the ambition of emission reduction promises for 2030 must be seven times greater.
Cities that are home to billions of people and produce up to 70% of all emissions generated by human activity will have a growing socioeconomic effect. According to the paper, which provides instances of this year’s extreme weather in several regions of the world, the most vulnerable populations would suffer the most. “Wildfires, floods, droughts, heatwaves, extreme storms, and droughts are becoming worse and shattering records at an alarming rate. European heat waves massive flooding in Pakistan. Droughts that are severe and long-lasting in China, the Horn of Africa, and the US. The new magnitude of these catastrophes is not natural. They pay for humanity’s addiction to fossil fuels,” according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
Prof. Petteri Taalas, the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization, stated that climate science is increasingly able to demonstrate that many of the extreme weather events we are currently experiencing have increased in frequency and intensity because of human-induced climate change. This has happened a lot to disastrous consequence this year. It is more crucial than ever that we increase the use of early warning systems to help vulnerable communities become resilient to present and future climate hazards. Because of this, WMO is leading an initiative to guarantee Early Warnings for All within the next five years.
