‘CLIMATE CHANGE HAS NOT STOPPED FOR CORONAVIRUS’

GLOBAL warming has not stopped for coronavirus, the United Nations has warned, as it publishes a report outlining the scale of the climate crisis.

From heatwaves in Siberia to melting ice sheets, climbing carbon dioxide emissions and rising temperatures, the multi-agency “United in Science” report sets out the state of the world’s climate in 2020.

The UN’s World Meteorological Organisation, which has compiled the report drawing on the latest science from a number of organisations, warns climate change has continued unabated during the pandemic. And Covid-19 has hampered efforts to monitor the climate crisis, with reductions in data from sources including aircraft-based observations, manual weather stations, and ocean information from commercial ships.

The report warns that global carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels reached record highs in 2019, though they are expected to be 4-7% lower in 2020 than last year as a result of pandemic lockdowns.

The world is not on track to limit global warming at 1.5C or well below 2C above pre-industrial levels, as agreed by countries under the Paris Agreement, and sustained cuts in pollution are needed, the report warns.