State of Global Climate Report Released

In News

On the sidelines of the 25th Conference of Parties (CoP25) of the UN Climate Conference in Madrid, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) had released a provisional statement on the State of Global Climate Report.

In-Detail

• According to the report, the year 2019 will become the second or third most warmest year on record.
• In 2019, the average global temperature was 1.1°Celsius above the pre-industrial period (1850-1900).
• It cited the 48°Celsius temperature recorded in June 2019 in New Delhi and other such extreme temperatures across the country as an example for unusual temperature rise across the globe.
• As per the report, 2019 may not breach 2016’s record for being the most warmest year on record as many European countries recorded normal temperatures.
• But the report noted that the average five-year period between 2015-19 and the ten-year period between 2010-19 are certainly to be the warmest periods on record.
• From retreating ice and rising sea levels, the report noted that 2019 ends a decade of exceptional global heat.
• It further noted that the world is fast exhausting its carbon budget. In 2018, the concentrations of the CO2 in the atmosphere reached 407.8 parts per million (ppm) and it continued to rise in 2019.
• The carbon budget is the tolerable amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
• According to Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), for a 50% chance of avoiding temperature rise by 2°C or more above pre-industrial levels, the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere should remain under 450 parts per million.
• From 277 ppm in 1750 to 405 ppm in 2017, the increase was 46%. In 2018, it was 407.8 ppm and scientists are estimating that it could have reached 410 ppm in 2019.
• This means the will soon exhaust its carbon budget if immediate steps are not taken to reduce carbon emissions.

Conclusion

The report is showing that humanity is fast running out of options to determine its course. At a time when big polluting countries like the United States have withdrawn from the Paris Climate Agreement, carbon dioxide is being emitted unabated.

A strong global will to reduce emissions is needed to protect our world from getting destroyed.