The United Nations said on Tuesday that global temperatures "smashed" heat records last year, as heat waves stalked oceans and glaciers suffered record ice loss, and warned that 2024 was likely to be even hotter.
The World Meteorological Organization reported that last year concluded the warmest 10-year period on record.
UN Says 'Planet on the Brink'
WMO climate monitoring chief Omar Baddour told reporters that there is a high probability that 2024 will again break the record of 2023.
UN chief Antonio Guterres responded to the report and said it showed "a planet on the brink."
He said in a video message that Earth's issuing a distress call and pointed out that fossil fuel pollution is sending climate chaos off the charts. He also warned that changes are speeding up.
According to the WMO, the average near-surface temperature in 2015 was 1.45 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels. This puts countries in danger of exceeding the crucial 1.5-degree barrier they vowed to avoid in the 2015 Paris Climate Accords.
Saulo told the reporters that he was now sounding the red alert about the state of the climate, explaining that 2023 has set new records for every climate indicator.
He also noted that what they have witnessed in 2023, especially with the unprecedented ocean warmth, glacier retreat, and Antarctic sea ice loss, is cause for particular concern.
One particularly concerning discovery was that, on average, marine heatwaves impacted about one-third of the world's oceans last year.
The WMO claimed that by the end of 2023, over 90% of the ocean had experienced heatwave conditions.
It warned of profound negative repercussions for marine ecosystems and coral reefs due to more frequent and intense marine heat waves.
Meanwhile, key glaciers had the greatest ice loss since records started in 1950, driven by extreme melt in western North America and Europe.
It claimed that in the last two years, Alpine glaciers in Switzerland, the home of the WMO, have lost 10% of their remaining volume.
Furthermore, the WMO said that the extent of Antarctic sea ice was by far the lowest on record.
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WMO Expresses Hope
The WMO pointed out a "glimmer of hope" in the rapidly increasing renewable energy production.
According to the report, renewable energy-producing capacity rose roughly 50% in 2022, mostly from hydropower, wind, and solar power.
Martin Siegert, a geosciences professor at the University of Exeter, said their only response is to stop burning fossil fuels to limit the damage.
Jeffrey Kargel, a senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute, highlighted that harsh climate changes do not necessarily mean the unavoidable collapse of civilization.
He said that the result depends on how people and governments change or do not change behaviors.
Saulo said climate inaction costs much more, and the worst thing would be doing nothing.
Furthermore, Guterres stressed that avoiding the worst of climate chaos was still possible.
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