{"id":14892,"date":"2021-04-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/current_affairs\/uncategorized\/21-04-2021\/state-of-the-global-climate-for-2020\/"},"modified":"2021-04-21T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T00:00:00","slug":"state-of-the-global-climate-for-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/21-04-2021\/state-of-the-global-climate-for-2020","title":{"rendered":"State of the Global Climate for 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\"><strong><u>In News<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\"><strong>World Meteorological Organization (WMO)<\/strong> released its annual State of the Global Climate for 2020.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\"><strong><u>Key Findings <\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cfstatic.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/file_library\/mix_content\/679899048959673900_image.png\" style=\"height:278px; width:500px\" \/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\"><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\"><a href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2021\/04\/1090072\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color:#1155cc\">Image Courtesy:UN<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">2020 was one of the <strong>three warmest years<\/strong> on record, despite a cooling<strong> La Ni\u00f1a event<\/strong>. <\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">The global average temperature in 2020 was about <strong>1.2\u00b0 Celsius <\/strong>above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) level. <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">The six years since 2015 have been the warmest on record.<\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">\u00a02011-2020 was the warmest decade on record.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\"><strong>Five key indicators of irreversible changes in the global climate<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\"><strong>Greenhouse Gases<\/strong>: The emission of major greenhouse gases increased in 2019 and 2020. <\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">\u00a0The level of greenhouse gas emission will be higher in 2021.<\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">Globally averaged mole fractions of carbon dioxide (CO2) have already exceeded 410 parts per million (ppm), and if the CO2 concentration follows the same pattern as in previous years, it could reach or exceed 414 ppm in 2021<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\"><strong>Oceans:<\/strong> In 2019, the oceans had the <strong>highest heat content <\/strong>on the record. <\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">In 2020, it has broken this record further. <\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">\u201cOver 80 per cent of the ocean area experienced at least one <strong>marine heatwave in 2020<\/strong>.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">The percentage of the ocean that experienced \u201cstrong\u201d marine heatwaves (45 per cent) was greater than that which experienced \u201cmoderate\u201d marine heatwaves (28 per cent).<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\"><strong>Sea-level rise:<\/strong> Sea-level has been rising since record-taking started in 1993 using the <strong>satellite altimeter,<\/strong><\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">However, Sealevel recorded a drop due to the La Ni\u00f1a induced cooling in the summer of 2020.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">\u201cSea level has recently been rising at a higher rate partly due to the increased <strong>melting of the ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica.<\/strong>\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\"><strong>The Arctic and the Antarctica:<\/strong> In 2020, the Arctic sea-ice extent came down to second-lowest on record. <\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">The 2020 Arctic sea-ice extent minimum after the summer melt was 3.74 million square kilometres, marking only the second time on record that it shrank to less than 4 million sq km,\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">In a large region of the Siberian Arctic, temperatures in 2020 were more than 3\u00b0C above average, with a record temperature of 38\u00b0C in the town of Verkhoyansk.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">\u201cThe Antarctic sea-ice extent remained close to the long-term average. However, the Antarctic ice sheet has exhibited a strong mass loss trend since the late 1990s. <\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">This trend accelerated around 2005, and currently, Antarctica loses approximately 175 to 225 Gt per year, due to the increasing flow rates of major glaciers in West Antarctica and the Antarctic Peninsula.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\"><strong><u>Issues \/Concerns \/Impacts<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:none\">\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">Climate change undermines <strong>sustainable development efforts,<\/strong> through a cascading chain of interrelated events that can worsen existing inequalities and the deteriorating cycle of climate change.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">Extreme weather events were also recorded in several locations globally, with <strong>heavy rains and floods, severe and long-term droughts, disastrous storms<\/strong>, and widespread and prolonged wildfires, such as in the US and Australia.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\"><strong>Ocean acidification and deoxygenation<\/strong> continued, impacting ecosystems, marine life and fisheries, as well as reducing its capacity to absorb CO2 from the atmosphere. <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">Extreme weather combined with COVID-19 is a double blow for millions of people in 2020. <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\"><strong><u>Suggestions <\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type:none\">\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\"><strong>2021, \u201cmust be the year for action\u201d,<\/strong> calling for a number of \u201cconcrete advances\u201d, before countries gather in<strong> Glasgow in November, for COP26<\/strong>.<\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\"><strong>\u00a0COP26<\/strong>-The 26th session of Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">Countries need to submit <strong>ambitious new nationally determined contributions (NDCs<\/strong>) that were designed by the Paris Agreement. <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">Their climate plans for the next 10 years must be much more efficient.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">The trillions of dollars invested by mostly richer nations for domestic COVID-19 recovery, be aligned with the <strong>Paris Agreemen<\/strong>t on climate change and the <strong>Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs<\/strong>), and that subsidies directed to fossil fuels be shifted to <strong>renewable energy.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">Developed countries must lead in phasing out coal \u2013 by 2030 in OECD countries, and 2040 elsewhere. No new coal power plants should be built.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"Table\" style=\"border-collapse:collapse; border:none; width:624px\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"background-color:#fff2cc; border-bottom:1px solid black; border-left:1px solid black; border-right:1px solid black; border-top:1px solid black; vertical-align:top; width:624px\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\"><strong><u>World Meteorological Organization (WMO)<\/u><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">It is an<strong> intergovernmental organization<\/strong> with a membership of 193 Member States and Territories. <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">It was established by the ratification of the WMO Convention on 23 March 1950<\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">It originated from the I<strong>nternational Meteorological Organization (IMO)<\/strong>, the roots of which were planted at the <strong>1873 Vienna International Meteorological Congress<\/strong>.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">It is the specialised agency of the United Nations for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences a year later. <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">The Secretariat, headquartered in Geneva, is headed by the Secretary-General. Its supreme body is the World Meteorological Congress.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\"><strong>The State of the Global Climate-<\/strong>World Meteorological Organization issued the first state of the climate report in 1993. <\/span><\/span>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\">The report was initiated due to the concerns raised at that time about projected climate change.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"font-size:11pt\"><span style=\"font-family:Arial,sans-serif\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.downtoearth.org.in\/news\/climate-change\/the-world-was-in-high-fever-in-2020-76586\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color:#1155cc\">Source: DTH<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align:center\">\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In News World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released its annual State of the Global Climate for 2020. Key Findings Image Courtesy:UN 2020 was one of the three warmest years on record, despite a cooling La Ni\u00f1a event. The global average temperature in 2020 was about 1.2\u00b0 Celsius above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) level. The six years since [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[60,26],"class_list":["post-14892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs","tag-environmental-pollution-degradation","tag-gs-3"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2023\/07\/5801190current-affairs.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}