Whatever the scientists had predicted in the past are now occurring: loss of sea ice, accelerated sea level rise and longer, more intense heat waves
Climate change is accelerating, as the worst fears about global climate change have come true. The sea level is rising, carbon dioxide levels increasing, and ice sheets melting faster than ever before.
Glaciers have shrunk, ice on rivers and lakes is breaking up earlier, plant and animal ranges have shifted and trees are flowering sooner, says World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
It says whatever the scientists had predicted in the past are now occurring: loss of sea ice, accelerated sea-level rise and longer, more intense heat waves.
The WMO noted that the extent of land ice melt from the world glaciers and the ice sheets has increased over time.
“From 2015-18, the average Arctic’s average September minimum (summer) sea-ice was found to be well below the 1980-2010 average, as was the average winter sea-ice extent,” the WMO noted, adding that the four lowest records for winter occurred during this period.
Floods may pose extraordinary challenges for coastal communities. The 2015 Paris Agreement saw countries lay out national targets to reduce their emissions to limit long-term temperature rise by either 2 degrees Celsius or 1.5C
The situation that prevailed at the Antarctic was very similar. “The amount of ice lost annually from the Antarctic ice sheet increased at least six-fold, from 40 Gt per year in 1979-1990 to 252 Gt per year in 2009-2017,” WMO added adding that the Greenland ice sheet has also been losing rapidly.
Global sea level has risen by about 8 inches and is projected to rise another 1 to 4 feet by 2100. This is the result of added water from melting land ice and the expansion of seawater as it warms. Storm surges and high tides could combine with sea level rise and increase flooding in many regions, according to NASA.
Floods may pose extraordinary challenges for coastal communities. The 2015 Paris Agreement saw countries lay out national targets to reduce their emissions to limit long-term temperature rise by either 2 degrees Celsius or 1.5C.
It’s taken more than a century, but experts now say humans are definitely to blame for the climate crisis.