The dangers of climate change are getting harder and harder to ignore, especially after 2023 ended up becoming the hottest year on Record. The ice glaciers melted more than they ever had at this current point in time, and as if that wasn't enough, the UN is claiming that 2024 will be even hotter with all things having been considered and taken into account.
The World Meteorological Organization, which is part of the UN, stated that we are in the middle of the hottest decade in history. The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres responded to this by saying that the planet is on the brink of collapse.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that the 1.5 degree celsius lower limit of the Paris Climate Accord might be broken much faster than expected. What's more is that marine heatwaves occurred one out of every three days last year, which was absolutely devastating for marine life.
By the end of 2023, it was estimated that somewhere in the region of 90% of the ocean had suffered a catastrophic heatwave. As a result of the fact that this is the case, many are calling for world governments to act before it’s too late. Close to the WMO’s headquarters in Switzerland, alpine glaciers ended up losing 10% of their total mass within the past two years alone.
Sea levels started being recorded in 1993 by satellite, and in 2023, they reached their highest point in the past 30 years. In the past decade, the sea rise has been double that which occurred in the prior two decades.
On top of all of that, 333 million people are now food insecure. This is more than double the 149 million that were food insecure prior to the Covid pandemic. The only thing that might give us hope for a bright future is the recent boom in renewable energy production. Renewable energy capacity increased by 50% year over year, and that might end up being the thing that pulls us back from the brink of disaster.
Fossil fuel pollution is sending climate chaos off the charts.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) March 19, 2024
Last year saw record heat, record sea levels & record ocean surface temperatures.
There’s still time to throw out a lifeline to people & planet - but leaders must step up & #ActNow.https://t.co/fCGqLk0Xw6 pic.twitter.com/3uaaMJDV04
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