The visible effects of climate change have intensified during the last eight years, which are the warmest since there are records, and in which it has been observed how the rise in sea level accelerates, the melting of European glaciers breaks records and extreme weather events cause serious damage, according to the provisional preview of the World Meteorological Organization’s 2022 State of the Climate Report. The WMO publishes the document this Sunday, coinciding with the opening of the XXVII Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention of Climate Change of the UN in the spa town of Sharm-El Sheik, in Egypt. The analysis of the meteorological organization estimates that currently the global average temperature of 2022 will exceed 1.15 degrees Celsius (ºC) -between 1 .02 and 1.28ºC– the thermal average of the pre-industrial period, between 1850 and 1900 and that the average of the decade 2013-2022 will exceed by 1.14ºC — from 1.02 to 1.27ºC– the reference value of the pre-industrial stage. This value even exceeds the estimates made by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), whose latest assessment report, the sixth, predicted a rise in global temperature between 2011 and 2020 of 1.09ºC. However, the WMO explains that due to the cooling caused by an infrequent triple episode of La Niña, it is likely that 2022 will be “only” the fifth or sixth warmest year on record. This, according to the organization, does not reverse the long-term trend, since it estimates that it is “only a matter of time” until the record for the warmest year ever recorded is broken. Evolution of the intensification of the effects of climate change and of the increase in temperature in the world since 1850 WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANIZATION Alarming signs almost 10 millimeters since January 2020 and this year it has reached a new maximum. This means that 10 percent of the sea level rise recorded globally since satellite measurements began almost 30 years ago has been concentrated in the last two and a half years. It also calls 2022 an “exceptionally tough” year. for the glaciers of the European Alps, given that the first indications point to an “unprecedented” melting, with thickness losses of between 3 and 4 meters and the Greenland ice sheet lost mass for the twenty-sixth consecutive year and for the first time in the month of September it had rains instead of snowfalls. The first measurements indicate that, between 2021 and 2022, the Swiss glaciers lost 6 percent of their ice volume and for the first time in history, even at the measurement sites Located at a higher altitude, all the snow melted during the summer season, so the accumulation of ice was zero. Between 2001 and 2022, the volume of ice in Switzerland’s glaciers decreased from 77 cubic kilometers to 49 km3, a decrease of more than a third. A low snow cover at the end of winter and repeated accumulations of Saharan dust prepared the ground so that, between May and early September, long and intense heat waves led to an unprecedented loss of ice. The analysis indicates that due to the continued increase in greenhouse gas concentrations and the constant accumulation of heat have caused the last eight years to be the eight warmest on record. But in addition, the report indicates that this year the extreme heat waves, droughts and devastating floods have affected millions of people and have caused losses valued in billions. As for the heat of the ocean, the authors point out that record levels were also reached in 2021, the last year evaluated, and that the last 20 years have done so at a particularly high speed. The greater the warming, the worse the consequences The WMO Secretary General, Petteri Taalas, has warned that the greater the warming, the worse they will be the consequences and adds that the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are “so high that we will barely be able to limit warming to 1.5 °C, the least ambitious objective of the Paris Agreement”. “It is already too late for many glaciers and melting will continue for hundreds, or even thousands of years, with serious consequences for water security The rate of sea level rise has doubled in l The last 30 years,” says Taalas, explaining that although this increase is still measured in millimeters per year, in a century it will represent an increase in sea water level of between 50 centimeters and one meter. “For countries with low altitude and for many millions of inhabitants of coastal areas it is a serious long-term threat”, he observes. In this sense, he recalled that too often those who contribute least to climate change are those who suffer the most from its consequences, as has been seen in the “terrible” floods in Pakistan and the “deadly and persistent drought” that is punishing the Horn of Africa. However, he added that throughout this year the “ravages” of extreme phenomena have also been suffered by societies that are well-prepared and recalled the prolonged heat waves and drought in much of Europe and southern China.”Extreme weather events are intensifying, so it is more important than ever to ensure that all s the inhabitants of the Earth have access to early warnings, since they allow lives to be saved”, he considers. Action plan During the COP27 in Egypt, the UN Secretary General, António Guterres, will unveil an Action Plan to achieve in the next five years the objectives of the ‘Early Warnings for All’ initiative since currently, half of the countries in the world lack early warning systems and have asked the WMO to lead the initiative. As for the concentrations of the main greenhouse gases in 2021 — carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide — reached record levels again. The annual increase in methane concentration was the highest ever recorded and according to data from the main monitoring stations, the atmospheric levels of the three greenhouse gases continued to increase in 2022. The drought left in a situation of food “crisis” to between 18.4 to 19.3 million people worldwide; Humanitarian agencies warn that another season with less than average rainfall is likely to cause poor harvests and further aggravate the food insecurity situation in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia. The report reflects the main extreme events caused by climate change, such as severe floods in Pakistan, cyclones in southern Africa, with Madagascar with torrential rains and devastating floods; Hurricane Ian in Cuba and Florida. Similarly, China suffered the longest and most persistent heat wave on record, and vast areas of Europe experienced repeated episodes of extreme heat. The flow of European rivers, such as the Rhine, Loire and Danube, stood at critically low levels and severe fires in Europe added to the severe drought.