Environment

The United Nations is sounding the alarm. 2023 is the hottest year on record.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a UN agency, says in a new report that records have been “shattered” in the last decade: ocean heat, glacier retreat, surface temperatures and rising sea levels. According to UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, we are entering an era of unprecedented climate chaos. The cause? Fossil fuel pollution. “There's still time to throw a lifeline to people and the planet”... But the rescue must happen now.

According to the WMO report, “2023 was the hottest year on record with an average global surface temperature of 1.45°C above the pre-industrial reference level,” indicates RTL info. "Every fraction of a degree of global warming has an impact on the future of life on Earth," warns the UN chief. Every day, millions of lives are being hit hard by heat waves, wildfires, intensifying tropical cyclones and droughts. These climate phenomena cause misery and chaos, but also significant economic losses. The WMO reports several billion dollars.

Ms Saulo, the WMO Secretary-General, insists: "We have never been so close - albeit temporarily for the moment - to the lower limit set at 1.5°C in the Paris Agreement on climate change." She also states, on behalf of the entire global meteorological community, that "we are on red alert".

Last year, about a third of the world's oceans were trapped in a marine heat wave. “The increase in the frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves is having profound negative impacts on marine ecosystems and coral reefs,” reports RTL info. With sea levels reaching a record high, global warming of the oceans can only continue, as well as the melting of glaciers.

According to the WMO, however, all hope is not lost since “renewable energy production capacity in 2023 has increased by almost 50% over one year, the highest rate observed in the last two decades.”

(MH with AsD - Source: RTL info - Illustration: Unsplash)