Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, December 7 (Reporter Hu Dandan Sun Jing) The World Meteorological Organization released a report on the 5th, saying that 2011 to 2020 was the hottest decade in human history since records began. The report, released at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in the United Arab Emirates, said the weather is becoming more extreme over the past decade, a harsh reality caused by climate change. Countries need to take more ambitious climate action to meet the Paris Agreement's global warming targets.
Firefighters extinguish a fire in the village of Chacia near Athens, the capital of Greece, on August 22, 2023. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Marios Rollos).
"More extreme heat, more challenges".
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has announced that 2023 is the hottest year on record. "Almost the whole world has experienced a heat wave this year. The 2023 El Niño event has dramatically increased the likelihood of record-breaking heat, triggering more extreme heat on land and at sea, making the challenge even more severe. World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Petri Taras said at the launch of one of the organization's annual reports in November.
In the United States, states such as Arizona and California were scorched by high temperatures for several days in July this yearThe Amazon rainforest in South America has been hit by a drought rarely seen in a century this yearPersistent and extreme heat was also seen in several parts of southern Europe and North Africa, with 48 each reported in Italy, Tunisia and Morocco2 degrees Celsius, 49 degrees Celsius and 50 degreesThe extreme heat of 4 degrees Celsius broke the local record.
Rising temperatures increase the risk of forest fires. Canada's wildfire season lasted more than five months this year, with a cumulative burned area of more than 180,000 square kilometersThe wildfires on Maui, Hawaii, killed at least 99 people in August, making it the deadliest wildfire in the United States in a centuryIn the same month, wildfires in northeastern Greece that lasted for more than a decade killed dozens of people, making them the worst fires in the European Union this year.
Zhu Dingzhen, chief scientist of the Science Popularization Studio of the Public Meteorological Service Center of the China Meteorological Administration, said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency a few days ago that in recent years, extreme high temperature weather around the world has lasted for a long time, has a large range of impact, and historical extremes have been continuously broken.
"More, more intense, more frequent torrential rains and floods".
In addition to extreme heat, global warming is also causing changes in global and regional precipitation, with frequent heavy rains and floods, causing severe damage and human life**. Ulenbrook, Director of the Hydrology, Water and Cryosphere Division of the World Meteorological Organization, said a few days ago: "As the planet warms, we will see more, more intense and more frequent heavy rains and floods, which will lead to more severe flooding. ”
Pictured here is a man rowing a boat on a waterlogged section of the road in Auckland, New Zealand, Feb. 14, 2023. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Zhao Gang).
In late October, as the Horn of Africa entered the rainy season, Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia all experienced persistent torrential rains and flooding. Kenya Meteorological Service**, heavy rainfall will continue until January next year. The Somali Disaster Management Agency announced at the end of November that at least 96 people had been killed and about 2.3 million affected by floods caused by torrential rains for nearly a month. The World Food Programme estimates that 4.3 million people in Somalia could be in a state of extreme hunger by the end of the rainy season in December.
In September this year, a cyclone in the Mediterranean brought heavy rainfall, affecting Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey and many parts of Libya, and causing severe casualties** in Libya**;In May, Tropical Cyclone Mucha made landfall in Myanmar from the Bay of Bengal, making it the strongest tropical cyclone to hit Myanmar in more than 10 yearsIn February and March, Tropical Cyclone Freddy struck southern Africa and was one of the world's longest-running tropical cyclones, killing hundreds**.
Zhu Dingzhen said that the increase in ocean surface temperatures caused by global warming has made typhoons and tropical cyclones develop more rapidly, so the threat to coastal areas is also greater.
"Reducing greenhouse gas emissions must be a top priority".
"The weather is becoming more and more extreme, with a clear impact on socio-economic development," Taras said on the 5th. Numerous studies have shown that the risk of severe heat has increased significantly, particularly in the last decade (2011 to 2020). ”
A pedestrian walks past the smoke-shrouded World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York, U.S., on June 7, 2023. A large amount of haze from forest fires in many parts of Canada has shifted southward, and the air in New York City in the United States has been seriously polluted, affecting people's lives. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Guo Ke).
Since the 90s of the 20th century, temperatures have been higher in each decade than in the previous one, and there is no immediate sign of reversing this trend. The oceans are warming faster and faster, and we are losing the chance to save melting glaciers and ice caps. Greenhouse gases emitted by human activities are undoubtedly the main cause of climate change. We must make reducing greenhouse gas emissions a top priority to prevent climate change from spiraling out of control. Taras said.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres also warned as many parts of the world faced a heatwave this summer: "The era of global warming is over, and the era of global boiling has arrived." He called on the international community to take action on emissions reduction, adaptation and climate finance to "stop the worst from happening."
*: Xinhua News Agency).
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