A temperature of 38掳C (100.4掳F) in the Russian town of Verkhoyansk on 20 June 2020 has been recognized as a new Arctic temperature record by the (WMO).
2021 was dominated by two crises that the world could not ignore 鈥 COVID-19 and global heating. From unprecedented floods in Germany, to out of control fires in California and Greece, extreme weather increased in intensity and frequency. The pandemic laid bare other inequalities. Rich countries hoarded vaccines and poor countries went without. Global food systems struggled to cope with the twin crises. The digital divide became more pronounced; the pandemic also showed that we can change quickly, but only if we have the resources and the vision.
answers why and how the world鈥檚 poorest rural dwellers should be helped to adapt to the changing climate.
has shortlisted 60 photos, based on technical and artistic merit, and published them on and , where you can vote for your favourites. They show the amazing power and beauty of our weather and our natural surrounds and illustrate the theme of , Early Warning and Early Action. Winning entries will feature in the WMO 2022 online calendar.
At the end of 2020, around 7 million people in 104 countries and territories were living in displacement as a result of disasters that happened not only in 2020, but also in previous years.
At times it seemed that a resolution was still hours or even days away but, on Saturday evening, a final document was finally adopted, despite the misgivings expressed by many countries at revised language regarding fossil fuels. COP26 President, Alok Sharma, seemed close to tears at one point, betraying the enormous pressure felt by so many of those closely involved with the negotiations. In the last episode of , Conor Lennon and Laura Qui帽ones discuss the outcome of the conference, the Glasgow Climate Pact.
The UN Climate Conference 鈥 COP26 鈥 has wrapped up in Glasgow, with a new agreement to limit global heating. It has been described by UN Secretary-General Ant贸nio Guterres as an important step, 鈥渂ut not enough.鈥 鈥淲e must accelerate climate action to keep alive the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees,鈥 he said. of our lifetime. Scientific consensus says we cannot have a healthy planet with a temperature increase higher than 1.5掳C. We are already at 1.2掳C.
鈥淲hen there are floods, we take our shoes and socks off and put them in our school bags,鈥 says Fathimath. 鈥淲e have to wade through the water to our classrooms.鈥 Fathimath鈥檚 school is on a small island about a 45-minute boat ride from Male, the capital of Maldives 鈥 and just 30 metres from the ocean. The only thing protecting the school from rising sea levels are a handful of coconut palms, some of which have already collapsed into the sea, and a line of sandbags packed under the school鈥檚 main gate. Even with this precaution, the area still floods a few times a year, covering the school courtyard.
The UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow, United Kingdom is a crucial opportunity to achieve pivotal, transformational change in global climate policy and action. It is a credibility test for global efforts to address climate change and it is where Parties must make considerable progress to reach consensus on issues they have been discussing for several years. COP 26 comes against the background of widespread, rapid and intensifying climate change impacts, which are already impacting every region on Earth.
A scientific assessment has found that forests in World Heritage sites play a vital role in mitigating climate change by absorbing 190 million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere each year.
The report presents the Children鈥檚 Climate Risk Index, which uses data showing new global evidence on how many children are currently exposed to climate hazards, shocks and stresses.
How and who should pay the costs associated with climate change? Climate finance is at the heart of the discussions at COP26. To date, has committed US$990 million in climate finance.
When you think of climate migration, you probably think of people moving from one country to another to escape rising seas or expanding deserts. And to some extent, you鈥檇 be right. But the fact is, the vast majority of climate migrants are actually moving within their country鈥檚 borders Hotspots of climate migration may start to emerge as early as 2030, as people leave places that can no longer sustain them and go to areas that offer opportunities. The drivers of these migrations, according to the , will be water scarcity, declining crop productivity and sea-level rise.
New data from 100 countries shows that only 53% of the world鈥檚 national education curricula make any reference to climate change and when the subject is mentioned, it is almost always given very low priority. Furthermore, fewer than 40% of teachers surveyed by UNESCO and Education International were confident in teaching about the severity of climate change and only about one-third felt able to explain the effects of climate change on their region or locality. Over a quarter of those surveyed felt some approaches to teaching climate education were not suited to online teaching.