Last 8yrs hottest on record: WMO

The report came as over 100 leaders and heads of states made way to the UN climate Conference (COP27) in an Egyptian town

- Jayashree Nandi

NEW DELHI: The global mean temperature in 2022 is estimated to be 1.15 degrees Celsius (+ 0.13°C) above pre-industrial levels, with the last eight years being the warmest on record, the World Meteorological Organisation said in a report on Sunday.

The report, WMO Provisional State of the Global Climate 2022, was released on a day that over 100 leaders and heads of states made way to the UN Climate Conference (COP27) in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El Sheikh.

"The greater the warming, the worse the impacts," WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas said in a statement on Sunday, warning that the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is so high that the "lower 1.5°C (target) of the Paris Agreement is barely within reach".

Carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are at record levels in the atmosphere as emissions continue, with the annual increase in methane the highest on record, the report said.

The rate of sea level rise has doubled since 1993 and has risen by nearly 10mm since January 2020 to a new record high this year. The past two-and-a-half years account for 10% of the overall rise in sea level since satellite measurements started nearly 30 years ago, the report stated.