UN climate change report warns world is 'going in the wrong direction'

 Extract from ABC News

Posted 3 hours ago

Nearly half the world's population is considered highly vulnerable to floods, heat, drought, wildfires and storms.(AP: Fareed Khan )

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The impacts of climate change are "heading into uncharted territories of destruction", UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned after the release of a multi-agency scientific report.

Key points:

• UN Secretary-General said there is "nothing natural" about extreme weather events
• The report showed soaring planet-warming emissions beyond pre-pandemic levels
• The World Meteorological Organization promised to put every person on earth under the protection of an early warning system

The report led by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), warned the world is "going in the wrong direction" on climate change.

With greenhouse gas concentrations continuing to rise in the atmosphere and world leaders failing to adopt strategies to hold global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures, the earth is inching closer to dangerous climate tipping points, the United in Science report says.

"Heatwaves in Europe. Colossal floods in Pakistan …There is nothing natural about the new scale of these disasters," Mr Guterres said.

Despite a dip in emissions during coronavirus lockdowns, planet-warming emissions have since soared beyond pre-pandemic levels.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres says climate change are "heading into uncharted territories of destruction".(AP: Bebeto Matthews)

Preliminary data reveal that global carbon dioxide emissions in the first half of this year were 1.2 per cent higher than during the same period in 2019, the report finds.

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The past seven years were the warmest on record.

The global average temperature has already warmed 1.1C above the pre-industrial average.

Scientists expect the annual average could be anywhere between 1.1C and 1.7C warmer up to 2026 — meaning there the world could pass the 1.5C warming threshold in the next five years.

By the end of the century, without aggressive climate action, global warming is estimated to reach 2.8C.

Nearly half the world's population is considered highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change -- floods, heat, drought, wildfires and storms.

To help communities cope, the WMO has promised to put every person on earth under the protection of an early warning system within the next five years.

Reuters