Global warming stronger than diplomatic cold.

Chinese President Xi Jinping accepted the invitation of his American counterpart, Joe Biden, to participate in the climate summit organized by the United States on Thursday, April 22.

This will be the first meeting between the two leaders, on bad terms on many issues, since the arrival at the White House of the former vice-president.

In all, Washington has invited around 40 heads of state to this two-day virtual meeting which aims to bring the climate emergency back to the forefront of the media.

The health crisis linked to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has, in fact, monopolized the spotlight for more than a year.

Always hotter

Climate change has not, however, come to a standstill until the world finds the solution to Covid-19, confirmed the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in its annual report released on Monday, April 19.

The planet has continued to warm up and the pandemic has even, to a certain extent, accentuated the consequences for humans of meteorological disturbances, stressed scientists from the WMO.

Barely a year ago, however, the media still marveled at the drop in greenhouse gas emissions due to the slowdown in international trade and the containment measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus. The horizon seemed to be clearing up and some may have wondered a little hastily if the pandemic could be a "cure" for global warming. 

It did not happen and the slowdown, admittedly real, in the rise in CO2 emissions "was only a small point barely visible on the general curve of global warming", summarizes William Collins, meteorologist at the The University of Reading, contacted by France 24. The year 2020 was, with 2016 and 2019, the hottest in modern history, said the World Meteorological Organization. Without the La Nina ocean phenomenon, which is helping to cool the global climate, 2020 would have even "arguably been the hottest year," note the report's authors. 

This is due to the fact that "greenhouse gas emissions accumulate in the atmosphere and it is not a few months of slowing down in emissions that will change the long term trend", explains Cathy Clerbaux, director research at the CNRS at the Atmospheres, Environments, Spatial Observations Laboratory (LATMOS), contacted by France 24. 

The pandemic has exacerbated the devastating effects of global warming

The pandemic has also, indirectly, pushed some countries to succumb to old highly polluting habits to cushion the economic shock linked to the health crisis. This is how the CO2 emissions of factories are expected to increase by 1.5 billion tonnes in 2021 worldwide, underlines the International Energy Agency in a report published on Tuesday, April 20. "It would be the second highest increase in history," notes the organization which depends on the OECD. This is mainly due to countries, such as China and Brazil, which "have resorted to inexpensive and highly polluting energy sources such as coal to boost their industrial production," notes William Collins. 

For this expert, "it is a very bad signal, but if this increase remains punctual it should not make a big difference for global warming in the long term". He fears, however, that these countries will become dependent again on these dirty sources of energy and that states will no longer backtrack "now that the coal factories have been restarted."

Extreme weather events, linked to global warming, have also had more devastating effects for the most vulnerable populations because of the measures put in place to fight Covid-19, observe WMO experts. Limitations on the free movement of people and goods "have reduced the ability to cope with the scourge of locust invasions in East Africa, the Middle East or Pakistan, and they have slowed down the flow of locusts. 'humanitarian aid to the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by cyclones in the Pacific Islands or hurricanes in Central America, "lists Tom Oliver, professor of ecology at the University of Reading, interviewed by the Science Media Center site. 

The health crisis has therefore, in many respects, revealed how urgent it was "to move up a gear to fight against global warming" and its consequences, notes Cathy Clerbaux.

Some countries also seem ready to make more efforts.

"The United Kingdom has just made commitments to further reduce its emissions, just like Europe, and even China," recalls Williams Collins.

But these are only declarations of intention, notes the British expert.

The climate summit organized by the United States could be the occasion to take action.

Especially if Washington and Beijing are moving in the same direction for once.

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