UN Chief's Message to the World as Blistering 2024 Ends: 'We Must Exit This Road to Ruin'
"This is climate breakdown—in real time," said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres speaks at the U.N. headquarters
(Photo: Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
"This is climate breakdown—in real time," said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres speaks at the U.N. headquarters
(Photo: Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Jake Johnson
Dec 30, 2024
COMMON DREAMS
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said in a year-end message on Monday that "we have no time to lose" in the face of the worsening global climate crisis, which pushed temperatures to a record high this year and supercharged deadly extreme weather around the world.
"Today, I can officially report that we have just endured a decade of deadly heat," Guterres said in a video message posted to social media. "The top 10 hottest years on record have happened in the last 10 years, including 2024."
“This is climate breakdown in real time. We must exit this road to ruin," he continued. "In 2025, countries must put the world on a safer path by dramatically slashing emissions and supporting the transition to a renewable future. It is essential—and it is possible."
Guterres' call to action came in the waning days of what scientists say is almost certain to be the hottest year on record and the first full year to breach the critical 1.5°C temperature threshold.
Celeste Saulo, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), echoed Guterres' warning about the dire consequences of the status quo, saying in a statement Monday that "if we want a safer planet, we must act now."
"It's our responsibility. It's a common responsibility, a global responsibility," Saulo said. "Every fraction of a degree of warming matters, and increases climate extremes, impacts, and risks. Temperatures are only part of the picture. Climate change plays out before our eyes on an almost daily basis in the form of increased occurrence and impact of extreme weather events."
Last month, with emissions continuing to surge as the rich nations most responsible for the climate emergency refuse to ditch fossil fuels, world leaders convened for a U.N. climate summit in Azerbaijan that was swarmed by oil and gas lobbyists. The key gathering ended with a deal that climate advocates described as a step backward in the necessary push to rein in fossil fuel emissions.
Climate-denier and fossil fuel booster Donald Trump's looming return to office in the U.S.—the world's largest historical emitter—has campaigners and scientists increasingly concerned about the future of existing global climate agreements such as the Paris accord, from which the president-elect has pledged to withdraw once again.
One recent analysis projected that a second Trump administration could unleash an additional 4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030, which would inflict $900 billion in global climate damages and deal a devastating blow to efforts to forestall runaway warming.
Throughout 2024, Guterres used his role as head of the U.N. to sound the alarm about the world's dangerous trajectory, saying in an October address that "there is a direct link between increasing emissions and increasingly frequent and intense climate disasters."
"We're playing with fire," he said, "but there can be no more playing for time."
Dec 30, 2024
COMMON DREAMS
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said in a year-end message on Monday that "we have no time to lose" in the face of the worsening global climate crisis, which pushed temperatures to a record high this year and supercharged deadly extreme weather around the world.
"Today, I can officially report that we have just endured a decade of deadly heat," Guterres said in a video message posted to social media. "The top 10 hottest years on record have happened in the last 10 years, including 2024."
“This is climate breakdown in real time. We must exit this road to ruin," he continued. "In 2025, countries must put the world on a safer path by dramatically slashing emissions and supporting the transition to a renewable future. It is essential—and it is possible."
Guterres' call to action came in the waning days of what scientists say is almost certain to be the hottest year on record and the first full year to breach the critical 1.5°C temperature threshold.
Celeste Saulo, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), echoed Guterres' warning about the dire consequences of the status quo, saying in a statement Monday that "if we want a safer planet, we must act now."
"It's our responsibility. It's a common responsibility, a global responsibility," Saulo said. "Every fraction of a degree of warming matters, and increases climate extremes, impacts, and risks. Temperatures are only part of the picture. Climate change plays out before our eyes on an almost daily basis in the form of increased occurrence and impact of extreme weather events."
Last month, with emissions continuing to surge as the rich nations most responsible for the climate emergency refuse to ditch fossil fuels, world leaders convened for a U.N. climate summit in Azerbaijan that was swarmed by oil and gas lobbyists. The key gathering ended with a deal that climate advocates described as a step backward in the necessary push to rein in fossil fuel emissions.
Climate-denier and fossil fuel booster Donald Trump's looming return to office in the U.S.—the world's largest historical emitter—has campaigners and scientists increasingly concerned about the future of existing global climate agreements such as the Paris accord, from which the president-elect has pledged to withdraw once again.
One recent analysis projected that a second Trump administration could unleash an additional 4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030, which would inflict $900 billion in global climate damages and deal a devastating blow to efforts to forestall runaway warming.
Throughout 2024, Guterres used his role as head of the U.N. to sound the alarm about the world's dangerous trajectory, saying in an October address that "there is a direct link between increasing emissions and increasingly frequent and intense climate disasters."
"We're playing with fire," he said, "but there can be no more playing for time."
China, India, Indonesia, Taiwan and Hong Kong also reported this week that 2024 was their hottest year recorded yet.
By AFP
January 3, 2025
A thermometer shows a temperature of 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 F) in Sao Paulo, Brazil on March 17, 2024 - Copyright AFP/File Miguel SCHINCARIOL
Last year was Brazil’s hottest on record, its weather agency said Friday, after a record-breaking drought and flooding in the South American country that climate experts have linked to global warming.
The average temperature in 2024 was 25.02 degrees Celsius (77.04 Fahrenheit) — 0.79 degrees above the 1991-2020 average, the National Institute of Meteorology said.
It was the warmest year since records began in 1961, exceeding the 2023 figure of 24.92 degrees Celsius, which was also a record high.
The weather agency said that the “statistically significant trend… may be associated with climate change resulting from rising global temperature and local environmental changes.”
According to a study released last week, Brazil experienced an “alarming” increase in climate disasters between 2020 and 2023, with almost twice as many events each year, on average, as in the previous two decades.
Official data showed an annual average of 4,077 climate-related disasters in the four-year period, including droughts, flooding, violent storms and extreme temperatures, the research by the Federal University of Sao Paulo showed.
The study found a correlation between climate disasters suffered in the country and a warming of ocean surface temperatures.
The United Nations said Monday that 2024 was set to be the hottest year on record for the planet.
China, India, Indonesia, Taiwan and Hong Kong also reported this week that 2024 was their hottest year recorded yet.
2024 was China's hottest year on record: weather agency
Agence France-Presse
January 2, 2025
In July, heavy rains caused by Typhoon Gaemi flooded villages in central China's Hunan province (STR)/AFP
by Sam Davies, with Jing Xuan Teng in Shanghai
Last year was China's hottest on record and the past four years were its warmest ever, its weather agency said this week.
China is the leading emitter, in total volume, of the greenhouse gases driving global heating.
It aims to ensure carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions peak by 2030 and be brought to net zero by 2060.
The average national temperature for 2024 was 10.92 degrees Celsius (51.66 Fahrenheit) -- 1.03C. It was "the warmest year since the start of full records in 1961", the China Meteorological Administration said on its news site late on Wednesday.
"The top four warmest years ever were the past four years, with all top 10 warmest years since 1961 occurring in the 21st century," it added.
In 2024, China logged its hottest month in the history of observation in July, as well as the hottest August and the warmest autumn on record.
The United Nations said in a year-end message on Monday that 2024 was set to be the hottest year ever recorded worldwide.
Other countries also recorded temperature records in 2024.
India said on Wednesday 2024 was its hottest year since 1901, while Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said on Thursday that the past year marked its second-warmest year since records began in 1910.
Germany's weather agency said in December that 2024 was the hottest year since records began 143 years ago.
The Czech weather service CHMI said on Thursday that 2024 was "by far the hottest" in Prague since records started in 1775, beating the previous records from 2018 and 2023 by 0.5 degrees.
"It is worth noting that of the 15 warmest years since 1775, 13 were in this century and all 15 after 1990," the CHMI said.
- Extreme weather -
Global warming, driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas, is not just about rising temperatures but the knock-on effect of all the extra heat in the atmosphere and seas.
Warmer air can hold more water vapor, and warmer oceans mean greater evaporation, resulting in more intense downpours and storms.
Impacts are wide-ranging, deadly and increasingly costly, damaging property and destroying crops.
In central Beijing, finance professional Xu Yici lamented that warmer-than-usual weather had affected the city's traditional winter pastime of ice skating.
"There's no ice in the Summer Palace. I was going to go ice skating at the Summer Palace but I didn't get to do it this year," Xu told AFP.
Dozens of people were killed and thousands evacuated during floods around the country last year.
In May, a highway in southern China collapsed after days of rain, killing 48 people.
Residents of the southern city of Guangzhou experienced a record-breaking long summer, with state media reporting there were 240 days where the average temperature was above 22C (71.6F), breaking the record of 234 days set in 1994.
Sichuan, Chongqing, and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River suffered from heat and drought in early autumn.
But Xue Weiya, an IT worker in Beijing, told AFP he believed "the Chinese government is doing a very good job of protecting the environment, so I don't think the weather... will have a big impact on us".
Globally, 2024 saw deadly flooding in Spain and Kenya, multiple violent storms in the United States and the Philippines, and severe drought and wildfires across South America.
Natural disasters caused $310 billion in economic losses in 2024, Zurich-based insurance giant Swiss Re has said.
Under the 2015 Paris climate accords, world leaders pledged to limit global heating to well below 2.0C above pre-industrial levels -- and to 1.5C if possible.
In November, the World Meteorological Organization said the 2024 January-September mean surface air temperature was 1.54C above the pre-industrial average measured between 1850 and 1900.
© Agence France-Presse
A thermometer shows a temperature of 39 degrees Celsius (102.2 F) in Sao Paulo, Brazil on March 17, 2024 - Copyright AFP/File Miguel SCHINCARIOL
Last year was Brazil’s hottest on record, its weather agency said Friday, after a record-breaking drought and flooding in the South American country that climate experts have linked to global warming.
The average temperature in 2024 was 25.02 degrees Celsius (77.04 Fahrenheit) — 0.79 degrees above the 1991-2020 average, the National Institute of Meteorology said.
It was the warmest year since records began in 1961, exceeding the 2023 figure of 24.92 degrees Celsius, which was also a record high.
The weather agency said that the “statistically significant trend… may be associated with climate change resulting from rising global temperature and local environmental changes.”
According to a study released last week, Brazil experienced an “alarming” increase in climate disasters between 2020 and 2023, with almost twice as many events each year, on average, as in the previous two decades.
Official data showed an annual average of 4,077 climate-related disasters in the four-year period, including droughts, flooding, violent storms and extreme temperatures, the research by the Federal University of Sao Paulo showed.
The study found a correlation between climate disasters suffered in the country and a warming of ocean surface temperatures.
The United Nations said Monday that 2024 was set to be the hottest year on record for the planet.
China, India, Indonesia, Taiwan and Hong Kong also reported this week that 2024 was their hottest year recorded yet.
2024 was China's hottest year on record: weather agency
Agence France-Presse
January 2, 2025
In July, heavy rains caused by Typhoon Gaemi flooded villages in central China's Hunan province (STR)/AFP
by Sam Davies, with Jing Xuan Teng in Shanghai
Last year was China's hottest on record and the past four years were its warmest ever, its weather agency said this week.
China is the leading emitter, in total volume, of the greenhouse gases driving global heating.
It aims to ensure carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions peak by 2030 and be brought to net zero by 2060.
The average national temperature for 2024 was 10.92 degrees Celsius (51.66 Fahrenheit) -- 1.03C. It was "the warmest year since the start of full records in 1961", the China Meteorological Administration said on its news site late on Wednesday.
"The top four warmest years ever were the past four years, with all top 10 warmest years since 1961 occurring in the 21st century," it added.
In 2024, China logged its hottest month in the history of observation in July, as well as the hottest August and the warmest autumn on record.
The United Nations said in a year-end message on Monday that 2024 was set to be the hottest year ever recorded worldwide.
Other countries also recorded temperature records in 2024.
India said on Wednesday 2024 was its hottest year since 1901, while Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said on Thursday that the past year marked its second-warmest year since records began in 1910.
Germany's weather agency said in December that 2024 was the hottest year since records began 143 years ago.
The Czech weather service CHMI said on Thursday that 2024 was "by far the hottest" in Prague since records started in 1775, beating the previous records from 2018 and 2023 by 0.5 degrees.
"It is worth noting that of the 15 warmest years since 1775, 13 were in this century and all 15 after 1990," the CHMI said.
- Extreme weather -
Global warming, driven largely by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas, is not just about rising temperatures but the knock-on effect of all the extra heat in the atmosphere and seas.
Warmer air can hold more water vapor, and warmer oceans mean greater evaporation, resulting in more intense downpours and storms.
Impacts are wide-ranging, deadly and increasingly costly, damaging property and destroying crops.
In central Beijing, finance professional Xu Yici lamented that warmer-than-usual weather had affected the city's traditional winter pastime of ice skating.
"There's no ice in the Summer Palace. I was going to go ice skating at the Summer Palace but I didn't get to do it this year," Xu told AFP.
Dozens of people were killed and thousands evacuated during floods around the country last year.
In May, a highway in southern China collapsed after days of rain, killing 48 people.
Residents of the southern city of Guangzhou experienced a record-breaking long summer, with state media reporting there were 240 days where the average temperature was above 22C (71.6F), breaking the record of 234 days set in 1994.
Sichuan, Chongqing, and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River suffered from heat and drought in early autumn.
But Xue Weiya, an IT worker in Beijing, told AFP he believed "the Chinese government is doing a very good job of protecting the environment, so I don't think the weather... will have a big impact on us".
Globally, 2024 saw deadly flooding in Spain and Kenya, multiple violent storms in the United States and the Philippines, and severe drought and wildfires across South America.
Natural disasters caused $310 billion in economic losses in 2024, Zurich-based insurance giant Swiss Re has said.
Under the 2015 Paris climate accords, world leaders pledged to limit global heating to well below 2.0C above pre-industrial levels -- and to 1.5C if possible.
In November, the World Meteorological Organization said the 2024 January-September mean surface air temperature was 1.54C above the pre-industrial average measured between 1850 and 1900.
© Agence France-Presse
No comments:
Post a Comment