“The science is clear: we are far from meeting global climate goals. 2023 was the warmest year on record by a huge margin. Leading international datasets say the first eight months of 2024 will also be the warmest on record,” said WMO Secretary General Celeste Saulo.
She called for “urgent and ambitious action” to support sustainable development, climate action and disaster risk reduction, because “the decisions we make today can make the difference between a future collapse or a breakthrough to a better world”.
The bleak assessment of the latest UN partners is reflected in United Sciences Report that record greenhouse gas concentrations will fuel global temperature rise, Ms Saulo noted that extreme weather “devastates our lives and our economies”.
Her comments came against the backdrop of deadly wildfires in Latin America and Portugal, along with catastrophic flooding in Central Europe linked to Storm Boris that has hit parts of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, and floods and landslides caused by Typhoon Yagi that have devastated Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.
In a call for global action on the occasion of the upcoming Summit of the Future at UN headquarters in New York, the WMO chief highlighted the untapped potential of natural and social sciences, new technology and innovation to help countries develop, reduce their vulnerability to disasters and adapt to climate change.
Digital benefits a reality
AI and machine learning are already revolutionizing the science of weather forecasting by making it “faster, cheaper and more accessible”she noted, before adding that advanced satellite technologies and virtual reality simulations are now “opening up new frontiers” in key sectors already under development. threatened by climate change and dangerous weathersuch as land and water management.
Ms Saulo emphasised the value of satellite technology for climate science, explaining that innovations in space-based Earth observations have contributed to better monitoring of greenhouse gas sources and carbon sinks.
The WMO Secretary-General also noted that new technologies such as the ‘digital twin’ – which creates a virtual replica of a physical object, such as the Earth – and virtual reality – which provides immersive simulated environments – have the potential to help achieve universally agreed goals. Sustainable Development Goals and improve disaster preparedness.
Ms Saulo stressed that technology alone will not be enough to solve climate change, and urged all countries to share their expertise and experiences during the Top of the future in New York from September 22-23, “to ensure that the benefits of science and technology are accessible to all if we are to achieve global goals”.
Global Target Goal
These objectives include the Paris Agreementthe Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction And Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development (SDGs).
According to the latest international datasets analyzed for this year’s United in Science report, there is an 86 percent chance that at least one year in the next five years will surpass 2023 as the warmest year on record. There is also an 80 percent chance that the global average near-surface temperature will temporarily exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels in at least one of the next five years.
Despite the bleak outlook, significant progress has been made in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions, which were expected to increase by 16 percent from 2015 to 2030, up from a projected increase of three percent. “But the emissions gap remains high,” the WMO partners’ report said.
It further warns that if current policies do not change, there is a 66 percent chance that global warming will reach 3 degrees Celsius this century. “To achieve levels consistent with limiting global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius and 1.5 degrees Celsius, global greenhouse gas emissions will need to be reduced by 28 percent and 42 percent, respectively, by 2030, relative to the emission levels that current policies are expected to deliver,” the report’s authors stress.
