The global mean temperature in 2022 was 1.15 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) average, making it the “fifth or sixth” warmest year on record despite the La Nina conditions, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said in a report on Friday.
As per the latest report, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide – greenhouse gases majorly contributing to global warming – reached record levels in 2021.
But what is more worrying is that with the prediction of warming El Niño making a comeback later in the year, climate scientists have warned that 2023 and 2024 can further smash high-temperature records. The eight years from 2015 were the warmest ever and the concentrations of the three main greenhouse gases -- carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide -- touched record highs in 2021, the latest year for which consolidated global values are available (1984–2021), the report titled “State of the Global Climate 2022” said.
“Antarctic sea ice fell to its lowest extent on record and the melting of some European glaciers was, literally, off the charts,” it added. Keeping the global temperature rise below the 1.5 degrees limit (as compared to pre-industrial levels) is important to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
The WMO said the 2022 pre-monsoon period was exceptionally hot in India and Pakistan. Pakistan witnessed its hottest March and hottest April on record, with both months having national mean temperatures more than four degrees Celsius above the long-term average. In India, grain yields were reduced by the extreme heat and there were a number of forest fires, particularly in Uttarakhand.
“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,” the report read.
India also reported significant flooding at various stages during the monsoon season, particularly in the northeast, in June. Around 700 people died due to floods and landslides, and another 900 from lightning strikes. Floods also triggered 6.63 lakh displacements in Assam, the WMO observed.
Heavy monsoon rains caused severe flooding and landslides in Pakistan, leading to a spread of water-borne diseases, with the greatest impacts in the most vulnerable and food-insecure regions of the country’s southern and central parts.
