WMO: the warmest global record in the past eight years

© WMO

Driven by the rising concentration of greenhouse gases and accumulated heat, the data of six major international temperature data sets integrated by the World Meteorological Organization show that the past eight years have been the hottest since the world recorded.

The global average temperature in 2022 is about 1.15 ℃ higher than the pre-industrial level, which is the eighth consecutive year in which the global annual temperature is at least 1 ℃ higher than the pre-industrial level. This also means that the period from 2015 to 2022 is the hottest eight years in the world since the record, with 2016, 2019 and 2020 ranking the top three.

"In 2022, we faced several severe weather disasters, which claimed too many lives and livelihoods, and damaged health, food, energy, water security and infrastructure. Large areas of Pakistan were flooded, causing major economic losses and casualties. Record-breaking heat waves were observed in China, Europe, North America and South America. The long-term drought in the Horn of Africa threatened a humanitarian disaster difficult, "said Professor Petri Taras, WMO Secretary-General.

"It is necessary to strengthen the preparation for such extreme events and ensure that we achieve the United Nations goal of early warning for all in the next five years," said Professor Taras. "Today, only half of the 193 members have appropriate early warning services, which has led to higher economic and human losses. There is also a large gap between basic meteorological observation in Africa and island countries, which has a significant negative impact on the quality of weather forecast."