Damascus-Sana
“The worst is yet to come” could be the most accurate title of what climate change has reached in recent years, as the average temperature of the planet has risen by at least 1.1 degrees Celsius than it was before the industrial age, accompanied by a number of climatic disasters, according to a report issued by the Copernicus service. “European climate change.
At a time when the current obligations of states regarding curbing greenhouse gas emissions are still below the goals of the Paris Agreement, which aims to keep the temperature rise below the level of two degrees Celsius, and if possible 1.5 degrees Celsius, the Copernicus service report confirmed that the year 2020 joined 2016 in the lead. The hottest years in the world, after having witnessed record high temperatures, necessitating "hurry" to take steps to put an end to the phenomenon of warming, according to what was quoted by Agence France-Presse.
While it was expected that the annual impact of the emerging Corona virus crisis would be significant in terms of a decrease in carbon dioxide emissions by between 4.2 and 7.5 percent due to closures and embargoes, and the suspension of many industries and transportation means, the carbon dioxide that has been characterized by remaining in the atmosphere for several centuries was stronger than the impact. The epidemic, as Europe witnessed during the year 2020 an exceptional heat wave, which was the most severe, as it recorded an average of 0,4 temperatures higher than in the year of 2019.
In the Arctic region, especially Siberia, the year 2020 was also marked by an exceptionally active season of forest fires, emitting 244 megatons of carbon dioxide, which is more than a third compared to the record recorded in 2019, according to the British newspaper "The Guardian".
The effects of warming are evident in all parts of the planet from melting sea ice, exceptional heat waves, torrential rains, and the recent record hurricane season in the Caribbean, which was expressed by “Copernicus’ director Carlo Pontembo when he said, “The past decade is the warmest ever.” He stressed the urgent need to reduce emissions by an ambitious amount in order to avoid the harmful effects of climate in the future.
And while Vincent Henri Piusch, head of the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service, said that as long as the net global emissions were not reduced to zero, carbon dioxide would continue to accumulate in the atmosphere, causing more climate change, said Zeke Hosfather, a climate scientist at the Breakthrough Institute. “In an interview with Agence France-Presse, the global average temperature has risen 0.2 degrees every decade since the 1970’s, and if the effects of“ El Niño ”and“ La Niña ”were not based on temperatures from year to year, 2020 would have been the hottest year on record.
Scientist Stefan Ramstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research likened the accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to the water in the bathtub. “If we reduce the tap flow by 7 percent, the level rises more slowly but continues to rise,” and thus we have to turn off the tap to achieve climate stability.
The report of the European "Copernicus" service did not go far from what was stated in the report of the World Meteorological Organization of the United Nations on the global climate for the year 2020, in which it indicated that last year was the warmest on record with the increase in concentrations of greenhouse gases such as "carbon dioxide" and methane. And nitrous oxide, “despite the economic slowdown associated with the Corona epidemic, calling for the need for 2021 to be the year of action to confront climate change, whose consequences have become very costly for the world's population, according to the organization’s official website.
The report of the World Meteorological Organization warned of the catastrophic consequences of climate change, especially on the human level, as the Atlantic storms that struck Europe last year killed at least 400 people in addition to 9 million deaths annually as a result of air and water pollution, and about 9.8 million displacements were recorded due to dangers. Hydrometeorology and disasters recorded during the first half of 2020, according to the organization's official website.
The report touched on the economic aspect of climate change, whose global losses amounted to 41 billion dollars as a result of the Atlantic storms hitting Europe last summer, heat waves, severe droughts and forest fires that led to economic losses estimated at 150 billion dollars.
In turn, Director-General of the World Meteorological Organization Petteri Taalas said, "All the main climate indicators and the information received on the rise in temperatures last year show continuous climate change and massive losses and damages affecting people, societies and economies."
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, warned of the catastrophic effects of high temperatures during the presentation of the annual report on rising temperatures, calling on countries to act to protect their populations from the catastrophic effects of climate change, given that extreme weather conditions and climate disruption fueled by climate change resulting from human activities affect lives. It is destroying livelihoods and forcing millions from their homes.
Fahmy Al Shaarawy