The last seven years were the warmest on record and Earth is showing no signs of cooling down, a report released Wednesday by the World Meteorological Organization said.
The organization’s report noted that four key climate change indicators – greenhouse gas concentrations, sea-level rise, ocean heat and ocean acidification – set new records in 2021. The rise of carbon dioxide levels, which came from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and gas, were blamed for the record levels of greenhouse gas concentrations.
The year did not set a global temperature record due to a La Nina pattern. The average global temperature in 2021 was about 1.11 Celsius, or 1.8 Fahrenheit, above the pre-industrial level.
Even with the natural cooling that La Nina provides, 2021 remained one of the hottest on record, the World Meteorological Organization said.
The organization noted that extreme weather events led to “hundreds of billions of dollars in economic losses and wreaked a heavy toll on human lives and well-being and triggered shocks for food and water security and displacement that have accentuated in 2022.”
The organization said more nations are encountering famine due to climate change and rising temperatures. This is especially true in low-latitude nations.
“It is just a matter of time before we see another warmest year on record,” said WMO Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas. “Our climate is changing before our eyes. The heat trapped by human-induced greenhouse gases will warm the planet for many generations to come. Sea level rise, ocean heat and acidification will continue for hundreds of years unless means to remove carbon from the atmosphere are invented. Some glaciers have reached the point of no return and this will have long-term repercussions in a world in which more than 2 billion people already experience water stress.”
The changing climate is causing millions to be displaced as food insecurity and extreme weather events become more frequent, the World Meteorological Organization noted.