Climate Threshold Set to Be Breached in 5 Years

• Posted on May 18, 2023
• Daily Current Affairs

Climate Threshold Likely to Be Breached in 5 Years

Context:

The United Nations said on Wednesday that 2023-2027 will almost certainly be the warmest five-year period ever observed as greenhouse gases and El Nino work together to raise temperatures.

Points to Ponder:

• The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) of the UN cautions that the years   are very likely to be the warmest five-year span ever observed.
• The occurrence of El Nino, a climate trend characterised by rising surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, and greenhouse gas emissions are both blamed for the rise in world temperatures.
• The more aggressive temperature goal established by the Paris Agreement, which seeks to keep global warming to “well below” two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius if possible, has a two-thirds chance of being exceeded in at least one of the upcoming five years.
• Between 2015 and 2022, eight of the ten warmest years on record have taken place, with 2016 topping them all. However, it is anticipated that temperatures will continue to rise as climate change accelerates.
• According to the WMO, there is a 98% chance that at least one of the upcoming five years will be the warmest on record, as well as the entire five-year span.
• A continued warming trend was evident from the fact that the average worldwide temperature in 2022 was already 1.15 degrees Celsius higher than the average measured between 1850 and 1900.
• The effects of ongoing warming are serious and will influence many things, including food security, human health, water management, and the environment as a whole.
• Concerns are raised by the rise in how frequently the 1.5 degree Celsius barrier is exceeded, even briefly. Global temperatures are anticipated to reach previously unheard-of heights as a result of a predicted El Nino event and human-caused climate change.
• Petteri Taalas, the head of the WMO, emphasises the importance of being ready and taking action in response to these results.
• A record amount of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide, are present in the atmosphere, trapping heat.
• Mr Taalas points out that it could take a very long time to get back to a climate like the one from the last century because of the high levels of greenhouse gases, irreversible glacier loss, and increasing sea levels.