Extreme melting of glaciers and record levels of heat in the oceans – which cause water to expand – contributed to an average rise in sea levels of 4.62 mm per year between 2013 and 2022, the UN agency said in a report detailing the devastation caused by climate change, according to Reuters. This rate is roughly double that recorded in the first decade, 1993-2002, resulting in a total increase of more than 10 cm since the early 1990s.
“We’ve already lost this game of melting glaciers and rising sea levels, so that’s bad news,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas told a news conference. This is because such high levels of greenhouse gases have already been emitted that the waters will continue to rise for “thousands of years”.
Rising sea levels threaten some coastal cities and the very existence of low-lying nations, such as the island of Tuvalu – which plans to build a digital version of itself in case it sinks.
The annual report, released a day before Earth Day, also showed that Antarctic sea ice fell to record lows in June and July last year. The oceans were the warmest on record, with about 58 percent of their surface area experiencing a marine heat wave, the report said.
About 15,000 people died during heat waves in Europe last year, he said.
Taalas said such extreme weather events will continue until the 2060s, regardless of the measures we take to reduce emissions. But he said there is still a chance to turn things around after that.
“The good news would be that we could gradually reverse this negative trend and even reach the 1.5 degree Celsius limit,” he said, noting the more ambitious climate plans of the G7 countries that could allow the world to meet the temperature target established in Paris in 2015.
Overall, the WMO said 2022 ranked as the fifth or sixth warmest year on record, with the global average temperature 1.15 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average, despite the cooling impact of a La Niña climate event , which lasted three years.
Climate scientists have warned that the world could surpass a new average temperature record in 2023 or 2024, fueled by climate change and the anticipated return of warming El Niño conditions.
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