Ocean heat content reached a new observed record high in 2022 (Image: Maxpixel) 
Climate

WMO annual report emphasises how quickly climate change is progressing

The WMO State of the Global Climate report 2022 focuses on key climate indicators – greenhouse gases, temperatures, sea level rise, ocean heat and acidification, sea ice and glaciers.

Author : World Meteorological Organization

According to the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) yearly report, climate change continued to advance in 2022 from the tops of mountains to the bottom of the ocean. Communities on every continent were impacted by droughts, floods, and heatwaves, which cost many billions of dollars. The volume of Antarctic sea ice decreased to its lowest level ever, while some European glaciers virtually melted through the roof.

<p>The State of the Global Climate 2022 documents the planetary-scale climate changes brought on by record amounts of heat-trapping greenhouse gases on land, in the ocean, and in the atmosphere. Despite the cooling effects of a La Nina event over the previous three years, the years 2015–2022 were the eight highest on record for the global temperature. Up to thousands of years, glacier melting and sea level rise will continue, with 2022 setting new records in both categories.</p>

“While greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise and the climate continues to change, populations worldwide continue to be gravely impacted by extreme weather and climate events. For example, in 2022, continuous drought in East Africa, record breaking rainfall in Pakistan and record-breaking heatwaves in China and Europe affected tens of millions, drove food insecurity, boosted mass migration, and cost billions of dollars in loss and damage,” said WMO Secretary-General Prof. Petteri Taalas.

“However, collaboration amongst UN agencies has proven to be very effective in addressing humanitarian impacts induced by extreme weather and climate events, especially in reducing associated mortality and economic losses. The UN Early Warnings for All Initiative aims to fill the existing capacity gap to ensure that every person on earth is covered by early warning services. At the moment, about one hundred countries do not have adequate weather services in place. Achieving this ambitious task requires improvement of observation networks, investments in early warning, hydrological and climate service capacities,” he said.  

<p>The Indian monsoon onset was earlier and the withdrawal later than normal in 2022. The majority of the Indian subcontinent was wetter than average and the monsoon extended farther westward than usual towards Pakistan, where there was extensive flooding, as per the report. Heatwaves in the 2022 pre-monsoon season in India and Pakistan caused a decline in crop yields. This, combined with the banning of wheat exports and restrictions on rice exports in India after the start of the conflict in Ukraine, has threatened the availability, access to and stability of staple foods within international food markets and posed high risks to countries already affected by shortages of staple foods.</p>

The pre-monsoon period was exceptionally hot in India, the report said. In India, grain yields were reduced by the extreme heat and there were several forest fires, particularly in Uttarakhand. There was also significant flooding in India at various stages during the monsoon season, particularly in the north-east in June, with over 700 deaths reported during the season from flooding and landslides, and a further 900 from lightning.

A story map that illustrates how the climate change indicators are evolving and how advanced technology has made the switch to renewable energy more affordable and accessible than ever is included with the new WMO report.

The report concentrates on impacts rather than just climate indicators. Rising undernourishment has been made worse by the interactions between COVID-19, hydrometeorological risks, and violent, protracted conflicts.

<p>Hazardous climate and weather-related events caused fresh population displacement throughout the year and made situations worse for many of the 95 million people who were already displaced at the start of the year, according to the report.</p>

The report also highlights ecosystems and the environment and demonstrates how regular natural occurrences like tree blossoming and bird migration are being impacted by climate change.

The WMO State of the Global Climate report was made public prior to Earth Day 2023. Its main conclusions reaffirm the UN Secretary-General António Guterres's message for Earth Day.

<p>“We have the tools, the knowledge, and the solutions. But we must pick up the pace. We need accelerated climate action with deeper, faster emissions cuts to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degree Celsius. We also need massively scaled-up investments in adaptation and resilience, particularly for the most vulnerable countries and communities who have done the least to cause the crisis,” said Mr Guterres.</p>

The State of the Climate in Europe report by the EU's Copernicus Climate Change Service was published before the WMO report. It accompanies the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which contains information until the year 2020.

The World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), Regional Climate Centres, National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), Global Data and Analysis Centres, Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW), Global Cryosphere Watch, and Copernicus Climate Change Service run by the ECMWF are just a few of the organisations that contribute to the report.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (UNESCO-IOC), International Organisation for Migration (IOM), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and World Food Programme (WFP) are some of the organisations that work with the UN.

Key Messages

Climate Indicators

Global mean temperature

 in 2022 was 1.15 [1.02 to 1.28] °C above the 1850-1900 average. The years 2015 to 2022 were the eight warmest in the instrumental record back to 1850. 2022 was the 5th or 6th warmest year. This was despite three consecutive years of a cooling La Niña – such a “triple-dip” La Niña has happened only three times in the past 50 years.

Concentrations of the three main greenhouse gases

 – carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide – reached record observed highs in 2021, the latest year for which consolidated global values are available (1984-2021). The annual increase in methane concentration from 2020 to 2021 was the highest on record. Real-time data from specific locations show levels of the three greenhouse gases continued to increase in 2022.

Reference glaciers

 for which we have long-term observations experienced an average thickness change of over −1.3 metres between October 2021 and October 2022. This loss is much larger than the average of the last decade. Six of the ten most negative mass balance years on record (1950-2022) occurred since 2015. The cumulative thickness loss since 1970 amounts to almost 30 m. 

Sea ice in Antarctica 

dropped to 1.92 million km2 on February 25, 2022, the lowest level on record and almost 1 million km2 below the long-term (1991-2020) mean. For the rest of the year, it was continuously below average, with record lows in June and July. Arctic sea ice in September at the end of the summer melt tied for the 11th lowest monthly minimum ice extent in the satellite record.

Ocean heat content

 reached a new observed record high in 2022.  Around 90% of the energy trapped in the climate system by greenhouse gases goes into the ocean, somewhat ameliorating even higher temperature increases but posing risks to marine ecosystems. Ocean warming rates have been particularly high in the past two decades. Despite continuing La Niña conditions, 58% of the ocean surface experienced at least one marine heatwave during 2022.

Global mean sea level

(GMSL) continued to rise in 2022, reaching a new record high for the satellite altimeter record (1993-2022). The rate of global mean sea level rise has doubled between the first decade of the satellite record (1993-2002, 2.27 mm∙yr-) and the last (2013-2022, 4.62 mm∙yr).

Ocean acidification:

 CO2 reacts with seawater resulting in a decrease of pH referred to as ‘ocean acidification’. Ocean acidification threatens organisms and ecosystem services. The IPCC Sixth Assessment Report concluded that “There is very high confidence that open ocean surface pH is now the lowest it has been for at least 26 [thousand years] and current rates of pH change are unprecedented since at least that time.

Socio-economic and environmental impacts

Drought gripped East Africa.

 Rainfall has been below-average in five consecutive wet seasons, the longest such sequence in 40 years. As of January 2023, it was

estimated that over 20 million people faced acute food insecurity across the region, under the effects of the drought and other shocks.

Record breaking rain in July and August

led to extensive flooding in Pakistan. There were over 1 700 deaths, and 33 million people were affected, while almost 8 million people were displaced. Total damage and economic losses were assessed at US$ 30 billion. July (181% above normal) and August (243% above normal) were each the wettest on record nationally.

Record breaking heatwaves 

affected Europe during the summer. In some areas, extreme heat was coupled with exceptionally dry conditions. Excess deaths associated with the heat in Europe exceeded 15 000 in total across Spain, Germany, the UK, France, and Portugal.

Food insecurity: 

As of 2021, 2.3 billion people faced food insecurity, of which 924 million people faced severe food insecurity. Projections estimated 767.9 million people facing undernourishment in 2021, 9.8% of the global population. Half of these are in Asia and one third in Africa.

Displacement: 

The flooding in Pakistan affected some 33 million people, including about 800 000 Afghan refugees hosted in affected districts. By October, around 8 million people have been internally displaced by the floods with some 585 000 sheltering in relief sites.

Environment: 

Climate change has important consequences for ecosystems and the environment. For example, a recent assessment focusing on the unique high-elevation area around the Tibetan Plateau, the largest storehouse of snow and ice outside the Arctic and Antarctic, found that global warming is causing the temperate zone to expand.

The full report can be accessed here

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