What many voices of scientists and experts have been saying for a long time has been confirmed by data. The past eight years have been the hottest on record. And this has a whole series of direct consequences on climate change and life on earth.
This is the main conclusion of the study published this Thursday by the World Meteorological Organization, an agency belonging to the United Nations. Its leaders have put worrying figures on the table: the average global temperature in 2022 was 1.15°C above that of the period 1850-1900. In addition, the concentrations of the three main greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) reached the highest levels ever observed in 2022.
The report also put on the table the effects that high temperatures have had on the population. Last summer alone, the heat wave that swept across Europe killed at least 15,000 people, 4,600 of them in Spain.
Climate change and its effects occur in all latitudes of the planet, and particularly affect The most disadvantaged. In 2022, persistent drought in East Africa, together with catastrophic torrential rains in Pakistan and record-breaking heat waves in China, affected tens of millions of people, led to food insecurity, fueled mass migrations and caused losses and damages estimated at billions of dollars, as the report recalls.
on the wrong path
“Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise and the climate continues to change, while people around the world continue to be severely affected byr extreme weather and climate events”, warns WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.
The intense heat also causes it to thaw faster than expected. The largest freshwater reserve on the planet, the antartide, It has seen its glaciers shrink, beating all records. The melting of glaciers in the European Alps, as well as in the main mountains of Asia and America, has also reached historic highs.
This thaw results in sea level rise, which rose again in 2022, reaching an all-time high. Additionally, CO₂ reacts with seawater, producing a drop in pH called “Ocean Acidification” It poses a threat to marine organisms.