KARACHI: The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has warned against a dangerous rise in global temperatures, which are set to exceed to 1.5 Celsius above the preindustrial levels in the next five years.
It called for an immediate action to scale back the emissions, shield and restore the threatened ecosystem of the world. A fresh statistics, which Copernicus Climate Change released on Wednesday, reveals that May 2024 is the 12th consecutive month with record-high temperatures.
Stephen Cornelius, WWF Deputy Climate and Energy Lead, said: “The planet's thermostat is cranked up, with records being broken more regularly than when Usain Bolt was competing. Every fraction of a degree of global warming matters, as the hotter it gets the more harm climate change causes people and nature.
We need to slash greenhouse gas emissions or we’ll overshoot way past 1.5°C of global warming. To limit warming we must phase out fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas - and swiftly move to 100% clean renewable energy, as well as to protect and restore natural ecosystems.”
Hammad Naqi Khan, Director General, WWF-Pakistan, said that the country is experiencing scorching temperatures and heatwave spells, which are impacting people, wildlife, and ecosystems. In some regions, the daytime temperatures grew over 51 Celsius last month, which he termed "very alarming". He underscored the need to conserve the natural resources such as forests and freshwater bodies, besides promoting nature based solutions to tackle the rising temperatures and the threatening heatwave.
Stephanie Roe, WWF Global Climate & Energy Lead Scientist, said: "We keep obtaining more and more alarming data. We're continuously seeing record-breaking temperatures, droughts, floods and economic damage from climate change. It's wake-up call after wake-up call. We should be accelerating efforts to meet the Paris Agreement goals and avert the worst of the climate crisis now. Future generations depend on the actions we take today."
With the WMO predicting an 80 percent likelihood of at least one year exceeding 1.5 Celsius between 2024 and 2028. The world is edging ever closer to crossing the 1.5 Celsius Paris Agreement goal.
This short-term annual warming does not equate to a permanent breach of the lower 1.5 Celsius Paris Agreement goal, but it is a grave warning sign. Passing the Paris Agreement threshold would require the global average temperature to remain above 1.5 Celsius for a 20-year average period. Unless there is an immediate and deep reduction in emission across all sectors and regions, Earth is set to overshoot 1.5 Celsius in the early 2030s.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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