ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - This year is set to become the hottest year ever recorded, the United Nations said on Thursday, warning of the devastating repercussions and demanding immediate action to tackle climate change.
The UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released its provisional State of the Global Climate report saying 2023 had “shattered” climate records and warned of the accompanying “trail of devastation and despair” that would be left behind.
The report highlighted that greenhouse gas levels continue to rise, sea level and temperatures are increasing while sea ice as at a record low.
The findings of the report "should send shivers down the spines of world leaders,” UN chief Antonio Guterres said.
"It's a deafening cacophony of broken records," said WMO chief Petteri Taalas. The provisional report was published as world leaders gathered in Dubai for the UN COP28 climate conference.
The rest of the findings are set to be released in the first half of 2024 but the report already sounds the alarm on the fact that the last nine years have been the hottest since records began.
"We cannot return to the climate of the 20th century, but we must act now to limit the risks of an increasingly inhospitable climate in this and the coming centuries,” Taalas warned.
Extreme summer temperatures were recorded across the globe this year, particularly in Iraq which is the fifth most vulnerable country worldwide to the effects of climate change.
Scorching temperatures exceeding 50 degrees Celsius were recorded in Iraq this year, coupled with water scarcity, desertification, and reduced rainfall.
According to the UN, over 130,000 people in southern Iraq are prone to displacement by the end of 2023 due to the effects of climate change.
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