😔 I felt sad this week. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released its findings on the state of the climate. The report makes for a gruelling read for anyone who cares about the planet and people living on it (is that not all of us?)
🚨 2023 was the warmest year on record - by far. WMO finds that the global average temperature in 2023 was 1.45 above pre-industrial time. We have never been so close to the 1.5° limit on warming.
Add to this a number of other new ‘records’ that no-one wants to reach:
⏲️ Oceans warmed significantly, with the heat content hitting the highest level since recording started 65 years ago
⏲️ Global mean sea levels surged to unprecedented heights, with the rate of sea level rise doubling over the past decade (compared to the first decade of satellite recordings from 1993 to 2002)
⏲️ Antarctic sea ice dropped to a historic low in February 2023 and glaciers experienced significant ice loss. (To illustrate this: in Switzerland alone, glaciers lost approximately 10% of their remaining volume over the past two years.)
And what does this mean for people? A lot. WMO finds that extreme weather and climate events had major impacts on all inhabited continents in 2023. Examples include:
🔥 Deadly and destructive wildfires in Hawaii, Canada and Europe that also caused air pollution far beyond the boundaries of the fires
🌡️ Extreme heat in southern Europe and North Africa, including in places not typically hit by temperature extremes, leading to health impacts
🌾 Flooding and droughts across the globe, impacting farmers and pastoralists
🌧️ Flooding linked to extreme rainfall in Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Libya, with an especially high death toll in Libya
❗Significant drought followed by high rainfall, causing deaths from flooding and mudslides as well as displacements, for example, in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya
👥 5 consecutive seasons of drought in Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, and Somalia which has led to 3 million people displaced
I was at a climate change workshop this morning at the Conduit. One of the speakers aptly described what I’ve been feeling: “I have taken my sadness, fear and anger and given it a pathway to action, and it has become oh so beautiful and empowering.” The emotions we feel reading the WMO report will channel even greater energy and dedication for turning the world around. 🫂
The WMO 2034 report can read as follows: “The climate crisis was the defining challenge that humanity faced, and together as a collective, we have surpassed what was thought possible. The world is firmly on track to net zero, and people are at the heart of this transition.” ⭐
It’s still possible. Let’s make it happen.
Anna
