The Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Professor Petteri Taalas, said on Friday at the organization's annual report that the population around the world continues to suffer from extreme weather and climate events.
According to Ukrinform, this is reported in a WMO press release.

"As greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise and the climate continues to change, people around the world continue to be severely affected by extreme weather and climate events," Taalas said.

According to the WMO's annual report, climate change continued to progress in 2022. Droughts, floods, and heat waves affected communities on all continents and caused significant damage. Antarctic sea ice fell to its lowest level on record, and the melting of some European glaciers was too fast.

Talaas cited last year's continuous drought in East Africa, record rainfall in Pakistan, and record heatwaves in China and Europe, which "affected tens of millions of people, caused food insecurity, accelerated mass migration, and caused billions of dollars in damage."

It is noted that large-scale climate change is associated with record levels of greenhouse gases, and 2015-2022 were the warmest years on record. Glacial melting and sea level rise in 2022 again reached record levels, and these processes will continue for thousands of years.

At the same time, Talaas said that cooperation between UN agencies has proven to be "very effective" in overcoming the humanitarian consequences of climate change.

"The UN Early Warnings for All initiative aims to fill the existing capacity gap to ensure that every person on earth is covered by early warning services," he said.

As Ukrinform reported, due to climate change, a large number of glaciers around the world, including the last ones in Africa, will disappear by 2050.