On March 10, 2020, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) published a report on the state of the climate that drew alarming conclusions. Amid the – logical – concern over the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the study went largely unnoticed. The document highlights the impacts of meteorological and climatic phenomena on socioeconomic development, people’s health, migration and displacement, food security, and terrestrial and marine ecosystems.
The year 2019 was the second warmest on record, and its average annual temperature exceeded pre-industrial levels by 1.1 ° C. All indicators seem to agree that we are currently not well on track to meet the Paris Agreement targets of keeping the temperature rise below 2 ° C by the end of this century . The year 2019 ended a decade of exceptionally high temperatures globally, a trend that will continue for years to come. And it is that, we have only been in 2020 for a few months, but some already speak of “the year that did not have winter”, in reference to its high temperatures. And temperatures are only a small part of a very complex reality: the ice cover and glaciers are melting, the sea level rises, the oceans heat up and acidify with very harmful effects on ecosystems. Droughts, floods, heat waves and other extreme phenomena occur that affect people’s health and even put food security at risk.
Climate change is not something in the future, it is a palpable reality with real consequences. In this gallery we have compiled some of the effects that, according to the WMO report, can already be measured. But we want to insist on something important: we can mitigate the impact of climate change and prevent the temperature from rising so high that it causes environmental collapse. We know how to do it, and the coronavirus crisis has shown that drastic measures can be implemented if the situation calls for it. Mitigating climate change requires far fewer sacrifices than those made in the current pandemic. In fact, the crisis opens a new window and opportunity to remake the world economy with criteria of sustainability, green jobs and renewable energy. With will, flattening the weather curve is also possible.
