4 climate crisis indicators break records in 2021

NEW RECORDS WERE SET FOR GREENHOUSE GAS CONCENTRATION, SEA LEVEL RISE, OCEAN HEAT, AND ACIDIFICATION, ACCORDING TO WMO’S REPORT

NEW DELHI: Four key climate change indicators, greenhouse gas concentration, sea level rise, ocean heat and ocean acidification set new records in 2021, in a clear sign that human activities are causing planetary scale changes on land, in the ocean, and in the atmosphere, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in its State of the Global Climate Report 2021 released on Wednesday .

Greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations reached a high in 2020 when the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) reached 413.2 parts per million (ppm) globally, or 149% of the pre-industrial level. They continued to rise in 2021 and early 2022, with monthly average CO2 concentration at Mona Loa in Hawaii reaching 419.05 ppm in April 2021, and 420.23 ppm in April 2022, from 416.45 ppm in April 2020, the report said.

The global annual mean temperature in 2021 was around 1.11 degree C above the 1,850-1,900 pre-industrial average, less warm than recent years mainly due to the cooling effect of La Niña. But, the most recent seven years (2015 to 2021) were the seven warmest years on record.

Ocean heat was also set a record last year. “The upper 2,000m depth of the ocean continued to warm in 2021 and it is expected that it will continue to warm in the future – a change which is irreversible on centennial to millennial time scales. All data sets agree that ocean warming rates show a particularly strong increase in the past two decades. The warmth is penetrating to ever deeper levels. Much of the ocean experienced at least one ‘strong’ marine heatwave at some point in 2021,” WMO said, adding that global mean sea level also reached a

record last year after increasing at an average 4.5 mm per year over the period 2013 -2021. This is more than double the rate of rise between 1993 and 2002 when the sea level rise by 2.1mm per year. “This has major implications for hundreds of millions of coastal dwellers and increases vulnerability to tropical cyclones,” WMO added.

Several regions continue to be affected by a rate of sea-level rise substantially faster than the global mean, particularly Southwest Indian Ocean; Western Tropical Pacific Ocean; Southwest Pacific Ocean; North Pacific Ocean; and South Atlantic Ocean. “It is just a matter of time before we see another warmest year on record,” WMO Secretary-general Petteri Taalas said on Wednesday. “Our climate is changing before our eyes. The heat trapped by human-induced greenhouse gases will warm the planet for many generations to come. Sea level rise, ocean heat and acidification will continue for hundreds of years unless means to remove carbon from the atmosphere are invented. Some glaciers have reached the point of no return”, he added.

In India, more than 1 lakh people were displaced in India between November and December 2021 alone due to climate related hazards, WMO said. It added that India has among the highest number of people facing prolonged displacement who are not able to return to their homes after climate hazards.

WMO referred to data from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre which cites a ministry of home affairs report on a low-pressure system that brought heavy rainfall and flooding to Andhra Pradesh in November 19-24. A total of 79,680 people were evacuated to relief centres by local authorities. Heavy rainfall and flooding in Puducherry from November 19-21 resulted in at least 2,294 new displacements according to disaster management authorities. HT reported on November 26 that parts of Peninsular India recorded exceptional amounts of rain which led to large-scale flooding over AP’S Rayalaseema and Chennai. Peninsular India recorded 143.4% excess rain between November 1 and 25 last, leading to flooding and damage to infrastructure.

Hydro-meteorological hazards continued to contribute to internal displacement last year, countries with the highest numbers of displacements recorded as of October 2021 in China (more than 1.4 million), Vietnam (more than 664 000) and the Philippines (more than 600 000), WMO said. At the beginhere ning of 2021, at least 7 million people were living in internal displacement following disasters. According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), the largest numbers of people in this situation were in Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, followed by Ethiopia, Sudan, Bangladesh, Niger and Yemen.

“CEEW’S recently released Climate Vulnerability Index suggests that eight out of 10 people in India reside in extremely climate-vulnerable districts;...estimates by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre suggest that 14 million people have been displaced in the last two decades ...India needs to climate-proof its economic sectors by integrating granular information on climate risks and investing in ecosystembased approaches”, said Abinash Mohanty, program lead for the Council on Energy, Environment and Water.