The Hottest Decade on Record: Alarming Surge in Climate Change, WMO Reports
The past decade, from 2011 to 2020, witnessed alarming and unprecedented levels of global warming, making it the hottest on record for both land and oceans, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
Between 2011 and 2020, it was reported that the planet experienced the hottest decade on record for both land and oceans. The World Meteorological Organization revealed at the COP28 conference in Dubai that this surge in climate change led to record temperatures and unprecedented glacier loss and sea-level rise.
This year is anticipated to be the hottest year on record, following six consecutive months of exceptionally high global temperatures. Scientists attribute this unprecedented warmth to the combined impact of El Niño and human-induced climate change, driven by the emission of planet-warming fossil fuels. According to a separate analysis released on Monday by the Global Carbon Project, carbon pollution from fossil fuels is projected to reach a new record in 2023, with levels 1.1% higher than those of 2022.
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With climate chaos on the rise, it's crucial to identify the countries that are contributing the most to pollution. The WMO's report on the hottest decade confirms a 30-year pattern of increasing temperatures. WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas emphasized the urgent need to prioritize cutting greenhouse gas emissions to prevent climate change from escalating further.
The UN agency has noted a particularly concerning increase in methane levels, which have almost doubled in growth rate over the course of this decade. Elena Manaenkova, WMO's Deputy Secretary General, highlighted this alarming trend during a news conference on Tuesday.
Climate pollution from all fossil fuel typescoal, oil, and natural gasincreased around the world, according to the Global Carbon Project. However, some proved to be more dominant than others. For example, coal and oil emissions have seen significant increases in India and China, while the US and the EU have shown strong declines in coal emissions. Emissions from natural gas are on the rise in the US, China, and India, but they are decreasing in the EU.
A cow tries to drink water from the bed of a dried rivulet at Mayong village east of Gauhati, Assam, India, in April 2014 amid drought and rising temperatures.
Anupam Nath/AP
An aerial view of an iceberg, almost the size of Greater London, that broke off from the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica in January 2023.
DG DEFIS/Reuters processed imagery from the European Union/Copernicus Sentinel-2 shows that at the current rate of emissions, there is a 50% likelihood of global temperatures consistently exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius in approximately seven years. This temperature, a crucial target of the Paris climate agreement, represents a threshold beyond which scientists caution that it will be increasingly challenging for both humanity and ecosystems to adjust. Earlier this year, the temperature briefly surpassed this mark due to the combined effects of warming from El Niño and the ongoing climate crisis.
The WMO report issued a warning that climate shocks are jeopardizing food security and causing displacement globally. It noted a significant and concerning transformation occurring in polar regions and high mountains. Secretary-General Taalas emphasized that urgent action is needed to save the melting glaciers and ice sheets.
Despite the alarming findings, the report did contain some positive news: international efforts to phase out ozone-depleting chemicals have put the ozone layer on a path to recovery.
The WMO report was released during the UN-backed COP28 climate summit, which focused on energy and industry that day. One of the main obstacles at COP28 is the future role of fossil fuels, the primary driver of the climate crisis.
"We can see the impacts of climate change all around us, but efforts to reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels are progressing at a frustratingly slow pace," explained Pierre Friedlingstein, a professor at the University of Exeter's Global Systems Institute. "It now appears inevitable that we will exceed the 1.5°C target set by the Paris Agreement, and leaders attending COP28 will need to agree on rapid reductions in fossil fuel emissions just to keep the 2°C target attainable."
CNNs Amy Cassidy contributed reporting.
