WMO - 310

The WMO is the World Meteorological Organization, an agency that promotes international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology, and geophysics. It has 193 member countries and territories.

The WMO's roots started in 1873 with the formation of the International Meteorological Organization. Its name changed in 1950 when it became an intergovernmental organization affiliated with the United Nations.

The WMO sets the standards for meteorological observations. It is the international authoritative voice on the state and behavior of the Earth's atmosphere, its interaction with the land and oceans, the weather, and climate.

Since weather, climate, and the water cycle know no national boundaries, international cooperation at a global scale is essential to making weather forecasting better. Thus, the WMO has a decisive role in contributing to the safety and welfare of humanity. As such, one of the goals of the WMO is immediate disaster risk reduction via weather forecasting. With extreme weather becoming more frequent worldwide, the WMO is increasing its efforts to disseminate time-sensitive weather warnings. The program is the "WMO Road Map for the Early Warmings for All Initiative."

The WMO is also tasked with identifying longer-term risks such as climate change. Since 1988, after linking up with the UN Environment Programme, the organization has been instrumental in developing climate science. For its outstanding efforts in climate science, the WMO was awarded the world's highest science award, the 2007 Nobel Prize.

In 1993, the WMO started issuing annual reports on the world climate that are accessible to anyone curious. The most recent, "State of the Global Climate," for 2023, can be easily accessed online. For 2023, here are the WMO's Key Messages:

• State of Global Climate report confirms 2023 as the hottest year on record by a clear margin.
• Records were broken for ocean heat, sea level rise, Antarctic Sea ice loss, and glacier retreat.
• Extreme weather undermines socio-economic development
• Renewable energy transition provides hope.
• The cost of climate inaction is higher than the cost of climate action.

The WMO averages many databases to compute the average world temperature. These are NASA, NOAA, and the Berkeley Earth Group in the United States;  Data from the UK's Met Office and the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit in the United Kingdom;  and Europe's Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and Japan's Meteorological Agency.

All agencies' results were the same for all practical purposes. The annual 2023 average global temperature was 1.45 ± 0.12 °C above pre-industrial levels. Scientists have warned us that if we want to avoid widespread destruction, we must keep the temperature rise to a maximum of 1.5C.

What are some of the highlights of the State of the Global Climate?

Greenhouse gas emissions of all three principal heat drivers, Carbon Dioxide, Methane, and Nitrous Oxide, rose.

Sea temperatures also spiked, setting records by a "wide margin" setting ott destructive marine heatwaves."

Ocean acidification increased because of absorbing much of the excess carbon dioxide.

The oceans continue to rise. "In 2023, global mean sea level reached a record high in the satellite record (since 1993), reflecting continued ocean warming (thermal expansion) as well as the melting of glaciers and ice sheets."

The WMO recognizes that the 2023 El Nino cycle was a factor, but the 2023 El Nino temps smashed all previous El Nino years by a wide margin.

Glaciers and the world's two major ice sheets, Greenland and Antarctic, continue to melt rapidly.

Extreme weather and climate events had significant socio-economic impacts on all inhabited continents. These included major floods, tropical cyclones, extreme heat, drought, and wildfires.

Scientists and Economists have calculated the cost of meeting the climate crisis. Unfortunately, the money governments have put up needs to be higher. There is a significant financing gap. In an average scenario, for a 1.5°C pathway, annual climate finance investments need to grow by more than six times, reaching almost USD 9 trillion by 2030 and a further USD 10 trillion by 2050.

That is a staggering amount of money needed to meet the crisis, but if we, the adults in the worldwide room, do not rise to the occasion, the WMO projects the cost of inaction to be even higher. Aggregating over the period 2025-2100, the total cost of inaction is estimated at USD 1,266 trillion; that is, the difference in losses under a business-as-usual scenario and those incurred within a 1.5°C pathway. This figure is, however, likely to be a dramatic underestimate.

While multiple page 2023 WMO State of the Global Climate is gloomy, I did find a little sunshine in two paragraphs of their press release:

"Renewable energy generation, primarily driven by the dynamic forces of solar radiation, wind, and the water cycle, has surged to the forefront of climate action for its potential to achieve decarbonization targets."

"Worldwide, a substantial energy transition is already underway. In 2023, renewable capacity additions increased by almost 50% from 2022, for 510 gigawatts (GW). Such growth marks the highest rate observed in the past two decades. It indicates the potential to achieve the clean energy goal set at COP28 to triple renewable energy capacity globally to reach 11,000 GW by 2030."

While the most reputable science organizations provide fair warnings and solutions, many politicians take different approaches. Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis ordered the removal of climate change from state correspondence. Shortly after the order, mega rains in southern Florida forced him to declare a state of emergency.

Just before this, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump entertained Big Oil and Coal CEOs at Mara Lago with promises to end clean energy…that is, if they will pony up the cash he needs to win.

The dichotomy and consequences could not be more clear, or severe.