WMO warns of ‘increasingly dangerous’ extreme weather caused by climate change

WASHINGTON: The United Nations weather agency World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on March 28, said that extreme weather events, supercharged by climate change, affected nearly 62 million people around the world in 2018.

According to an annual report of WMO “State of Climate”, the planet’s biggest weather woes last year were floods (which swamped nearly 35 million people), and droughts, which affected another 9 million. The report also suggested that the Earth is almost 2 degrees (Fahrenheit) warmer than it was in the late 1800s when the industrial revolution started, and that the past four years have been the warmest on record.

Climate change which is the number one cause of global warming is caused by burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas, which release greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane into the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans.

 “We have seen a growing amount of disasters because of climate change,” said Petteri Taalas, WMO Secretary-General. He said since 1998, about 4.5 billion around the world have been hurt by extreme weather. “Extreme weather has continued in early 2019, most recently with Tropical Cyclone Idai, which caused devastating floods and tragic loss of life in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi,” Taalas added.

Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General on March 28, said, “Climate change is a security and health issue for the world.”