Pandemic intensifies climate change's impact: UN agency

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) - Carbon dioxide levels at a key observing station are some 26% higher than in 1970, and the average global temperature has risen 0.86 degree Celsius since then, being 1.1 degree Celsius warmer than the pre-industrial era, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said Wednesday.

The WMO said at a video press conference from Geneva that in 50 years since the first celebration of Earth Day, the physical signs of climate change and impacts on our planet have accelerated, reaching "a crescendo" in the past five years, which were the hottest on record.

"That trend is expected to continue," said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas, addressing journalists from Geneva on Earth Day, April 22.

"Whilst COVID-19 has caused a severe international health and economic crisis, failure to tackle climate change may threaten human well-being, ecosystems, and economies for centuries," said Taalas.

"We need to flatten both the pandemic and climate change curves," said the WMO chief.

The WMO said a five-year report confirmed that 2015-2019 was the warmest five-year period on record.

The global average temperature has risen 1.1 degree Celsius since the pre-industrial period, and by 0.2 degree Celsius compared to 2011-2015, it said. Since the 1980s, each decade has been warmer than the previous on record.

Taalas said: "We need to show the same determination and unity against climate change as against COVID-19. We need to act together in the interests of the health and welfare of humanity not just for the coming weeks and months, but for many generations ahead."

A new global mean temperature record is expected to occur in the next five-year period, between 2020 and 2024, multi-model climate predictions of near-surface temperature.

This is shown from data collected by a WMO center operated by the Met Office Hadley Centre in the United Kingdom.

Projections show that further increases in global temperature are likely, especially over high latitudes and land regions, with slower ocean warming, particularly in the North Atlantic and southern ocean.

Taalas said temperature is just one climate indicator and others include atmospheric carbon dioxide, ocean heat and acidification, sea level, glacier mass balance, and Arctic and Antarctic sea ice.

All indicators showed an acceleration of climate change in the past five years, according to the final report on the Global Climate 2015-2019, released to mark the 50th anniversary of Earth Day.

The WMO said COVID-19 may result in a temporary reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, but it is not a substitute for sustained climate action.

"And it will make it more difficult to tackle weather, climate and water-related hazards which are becoming more acute because of climate change," noted the WMO head, adding that more heat is now trapped in the ocean.

The year 2019 had the most significant ocean heat content values measured over 700 meters (2,296 feet). Higher sea-surface temperatures endangered marine life and ecosystems.

The novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 has spread to at least 185 countries and regions since emerging in China last December, with the U.S. and Europe now the hardest-hit areas.

There are some 2.58 million confirmed infections globally with more than 178,800 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. Over 696,100 people have recovered.