Two days from the important global climate summit summoned by the President of the United States Joe Biden, two of the world‘s leading bodies on climate change have published reports that do not bode well. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which belongs to the United Nations, after the comforting signs of the first lockdown, global warming has resumed its journey “in an implacable way”: a trend that in the next ten years is not destined to reverse despite the efforts of governments to limit the damage. The International Energy Agency (IEA), on the other hand, claims that 2021 (following the current pace) will be remembered because of the second worst historical increase in terms of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
Record temperatures and ever higher water levels
The WMO has developed the usual report on the global state of the climate, defining “relentless” the worsening that emerged in 2020 (the hottest year ever together with 2016) and showing that the small improvements that occurred with last spring they went up in smoke quickly. The report states that, again in 2020, 80% of the oceans suffered at least one heat wave with very serious consequences on marine flora and fauna; ice in the Arctic has reached the second lowest level in history; hundreds of thousands of tons of ice in Greenland and Antarctica have melted, helping to raise sea levels. The WMO also warned about the effects of the drought, which in Brazil alone caused damage equal to 3 billion dollars. There is also great concern about the fire situation in the United States and Australia, where a record temperature of 48.9 degrees was recorded in an area west of Sydney.
Coal remains more popular than renewables
The WMO focused on what happened in 2020, while the IEA (in the Global Energy Review 2021) made an estimate on the 2021 data from the point of view of emissions harmful to the environment. According to the agency, this year there will be the second worst historical increase in terms of polluting emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), especially due to the fact that in the second half of the year the economies of Western countries are expected to return (almost) to full speed thanks to Coronavirus vaccinations. This will happen due to the steady increase in the use of fossil fuels such as coal, particularly in the US and Asia. Although renewable energies are undergoing some encouraging price falls (they are more accessible), coal is increasingly used.
“This is shocking and disturbing. On the one hand, governments say climate change is their priority. On the other hand, however, we are witnessing the second largest increase in emissions in history. It’s really disappointing, ”Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, said in an interview with the Guardian. To try to achieve global climate targets, emissions would have to be reduced by 45% over the next nine years: an increasingly complex goal to achieve.
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