The current weather suggests otherwise, but according to the United Nations, the years 2023 to 2027 are most likely the warmest five years ever measured.
“There is a 98 percent chance that at least one of the next five years and the entire five-year period will be the warmest on record,” the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Wednesday.
El Nino is coming back soon
The global temperature could therefore soon exceed the 1.5 degree target of the Paris climate agreement. The warmest eight years on record were all between 2015 and 2022, but the WMO predicts temperatures will continue to rise. In addition to climate change, she also blamed the El Niño weather phenomenon, which she expects to return in the coming months.
El Niño occurs every two to seven years and can further increase global temperatures. The weather phenomenon is characterized by warming of the surface water in the Pacific Ocean. It usually causes severe droughts in Australia, Indonesia and parts of South Asia, while causing heavier rainfall in some regions of Africa and South America, the southern United States and Central Asia. El Niño last occurred in 2018 and 2019.
El Niño and its counterpart La Niña favor extreme weather in many parts of the world. While El Niño increases the average temperature on Earth, La Niña has a cooling effect. They appear alternately every few years.
Already 1.1 degrees warmer
To avert climate change with catastrophic consequences, the world community agreed in 2015 in the Paris Climate Agreement to limit global warming to well below two degrees, but if possible to 1.5 degrees compared to pre- industrial era. The earth has already warmed by more than 1.1 degrees due to greenhouse gas emissions from humans, in particular from the use of fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas.
Together with El Niño, human-induced climate change “is likely to push global temperatures to unprecedented heights,” said the Finn. This will have “far-reaching implications for health, food security, water resources and the environment”. “We have to be prepared for it.”
Southern Europe is preparing for extreme drought
Scientists warn of an even more catastrophic drought in Europe than last year in the coming months. At the time, the hottest summer on record caused the continent’s worst drought in at least 500 years, according to researchers.
In Southern Europe in particular, farmers fear the worst harvests and yields in decades due to rising temperatures and water shortages in 2023. The EU Commission fears that this could further drive up food prices. “The drought situation will get worse this summer,” warns Jorge Olcina, professor of geography at the University of Alicante. There is little chance that the existing rain shortage can still be remedied at this time of the year.
In Spain, which had less than half the average rainfall until April, thousands of people are currently dependent on trucks for the delivery of drinking water. Some farmers have already reported crop losses of up to 80 percent, particularly grains and oilseeds, according to the association.
According to the EU Commission, it is closely monitoring the situation in the country, which is responsible for half of the olive production and a third of the fruit production within the EU. “The severe drought in southern Europe is of particular concern, not only for farmers there, but also because it could drive up already very high consumer prices,” said Commission spokeswoman Miriam Garcia Ferrer.
Researchers’ predictions come true
More frequent and severe droughts in the Mediterranean, where average temperatures are 1.5 degrees Celsius higher than 150 years ago, are consistent with scientists’ predictions. “The local impacts of climate change are exactly what we expected,” said Hayley Fowler, a professor and climate researcher at Newcastle University. Despite these predictions, measures to combat drought on the ground are largely lacking.
“Governments are too late. Companies are late,” says Robert Vautard, climate scientist and director of France’s Pierre-Simon Laplace Institute. Many agricultural regions should still introduce water-saving methods or switch to more resistant agricultural crops. “Some companies don’t even think about changing their model. They’re just trying to find some miracle technology that will conjure up water.”
Source: Krone
I am Wallace Jones, an experienced journalist. I specialize in writing for the world section of Today Times Live. With over a decade of experience, I have developed an eye for detail when it comes to reporting on local and global stories. My passion lies in uncovering the truth through my investigative skills and creating thought-provoking content that resonates with readers worldwide.
