The planet’s temperatures have already risen 1.15 ºC compared to pre-industrial times; the glaciers reduced their thickness by more than 1.3 meters in 2022, and the rate of sea rise again reached record levels last year (so that its rate of rise has already doubled since the 1990s). These are some of the data from the report on the state of the planet’s climate in 2022 published by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
From the mountaintops to the depths of the oceans, climate change continued to advance in 2022, according to the report.
“Droughts, floods and heat waves affected communities on every continent and caused many billions of dollars in losses. Antarctic sea ice extent fell to record lows and melting of some European glaciers reached unprecedented levels”, highlights the WMO.
These are the main indicators of the report
The global average temperature in 2022 was 1.15 °C above the average for the period 1850-1900. The eight years from 2015 to 2022 were the eight warmest years on record, based on instrumental records dating back to 1850. The year 2022 was the fifth or sixth warmest year. And this despite three consecutive years of cooling due to a “triple episode†of La Niña (something that has only occurred three times in the last 50 years).
The glaciers subject to continuous monitoring – and for which long series of observations are available – reduced their thickness on average by more than 1.3 meters between October 2021 and October 2022. This is a loss of ice much greater than the average for the last decade. The accumulated thickness loss since 1970 is almost 30 meters. The years with the most pronounced balance of ice and snow losses on record (1950-2022) were recorded from 2015 (6 of the ten years with the highest negative balance).
The European Alps recorded a record level of melting on their glaciers. In Switzerland, in one year (2021 and 2022) 6% of the volume of ice from glaciers was lost, and a third between 2001 and 2022. For the first time in history, there was not even snow left to survive during the winter season. summer thaw. Similar phenomena occurred in glaciers in high mountain areas of Asia, western North America, South America, and parts of the Arctic, also reveal considerable mass losses from glaciers. The Greenland Ice Sheet ended with a negative total mass balance for the 26th consecutive year.
Worldwide (1993-2019) glaciers lost a volume of water equivalent to 75 lakes the size of Lake Geneva (6,000 Gt), the largest in Western Europe.
Antarctic sea ice decreased to 1.92 million km2 on 25 February 2022: the lowest level on record (for the reference period 1991-2020). For the rest of the year, it was consistently below average, with record lows in June and July.
The global sea level rise trend continued; the ascent reached a new record high since records are available (1993-2022). This average global growth rate has doubled: it has gone from 2.27 mm/year in the first decade analyzed (1993-2002) to 4.62 mm (2013-2022).
What are the factors that contribute to sea level rise? In the period 2005-2019, the total loss of ice from continental glaciers, Greenland and Antarctica contributed 36% of that increase, while warming of the oceans (which causes thermal expansion) contributed 55%. %. On the other hand, the decreases and oscillations in the storage of water on land contributed less than 10%.
Ocean heat content reached a new all-time high. Around 90% of the energy trapped in the climate system by greenhouse gases ends up in the oceans, somewhat mitigating rising temperatures but posing risks to marine ecosystems. The rate of warming of the oceans has been especially high in the last two decades. 58% of the ocean surface experienced at least one marine heat wave in 2022, despite the persistence of conditions characteristic of a La Niña episode
CO2 reacts with seawater, resulting in a drop in pH; It is the “acidification of the oceans”, which poses a threat to organisms (which lose their ability to form their calcareous structures) and ecosystem services. The pH of the open sea surface is currently at its lowest level for at least 26,000 years and that the current rate of pH change is unprecedented since at least that time.
Unprecedented heat waves hit Europe during the summer. In some areas, the extreme heat was accompanied by exceptionally dry conditions. Excess heat-related mortality in Europe exceeded 15,000 total deaths between Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Portugal. China suffered the longest and longest-lasting heat wave since records began in the country. It was also the second driest summer ever recorded.
“Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise and the climate continues to change, while populations around the world continue to be severely affected by extreme weather and climate events,” says Petteri Taalas, WMO Secretary-General. data
“In 2022, persistent drought in East Africa, record-breaking rains in Pakistan and record-breaking heat waves in China and Europe have affected tens of millions of people, led to food insecurity, fueled mass migration and caused losses and billions of dollars worth of damage,†adds Taalas.
Hazardous weather and climate events throughout the year led to new population displacements, worsening conditions for many of the 95 million people who were already displaced at the beginning of the year, the report found.
Drought wreaked havoc in East Africa. Precipitation has been below average for five consecutive rainy seasons, something that has never happened in the last 40 years. As of January 2023, more than 20 million people were estimated to be facing severe food insecurity in the region, due to the effects of drought and other shocks.
Record rains in July and August triggered extensive flooding in Pakistan, killing more than 1,700 people, affecting 33 million people and causing nearly 8 million displacements. The total value of the damage and economic losses is estimated to be US$30 billion.
Pre-monsoon heat waves caused crop yields to decline in India and Pakistan. This, combined with India’s ban on wheat exports and restrictions on rice exports following the conflict in Ukraine, jeopardized food availability and stability of food staples on international markets. In 2021, a total of 2.3 billion people were food insecure, of whom 924 million were severely food insecure.
Throughout the year, some 1.2 million people became internally displaced in Somalia due to famine and the catastrophic effects of drought on pastoral and agricultural livelihoods, and more than 60,000 people crossed the border into Ethiopia and Kenya during the same period. At the same time, Somalia hosted nearly 35,000 refugees and asylum seekers in drought-stricken areas. In Ethiopia, another 512,000 internal displacements associated with the drought were recorded.
The floods in Pakistan affected some 33 million people, including some 800,000 Afghan refugees sheltering in the affected districts.
“We have the necessary tools, knowledge and solutions. But we must act more quickly. We need to accelerate climate action with stronger and faster reductions in emissions in order to limit the increase in global temperature to 1.5 °C”, António Guterres, on the occasion of Earth Day.
“We must also radically increase investments in adaptation and resilience, particularly for the most vulnerable countries and communities, which have contributed the least to the crisis,” Guterres added.
