Climate: the strong message of the World Meteorological Organization to the negotiators of the COP26
In its latest bulletin on the main greenhouse gases, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reveals that part of the Amazon "is no longer a sink, but a source of carbon".
AFP - RAUL ARBOLEDA
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
A few days before COP-26, a report from the World Meteorological Organization shows that, despite warnings from experts, forecasts are still catastrophic for global warming.
Despite the pandemic, and despite the promises of States which are slow to materialize, greenhouse gas emissions reached a new record last year.
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The Covid-19 and the economic slowdown that accompanied it had no tangible impact on the greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere. He just slowed down the pace of new issues, explains
our correspondent in Geneva
,
Jérémie Lanche
. Worse, concentrations have even increased even faster than the average observed over the past ten years.
At this rate, the rise in temperatures at the end of the century will be well above the 1.5 to 2 degrees provided for by the Paris Agreement, reminds Dr Oksana Tarasova of the WMO: “
We have no choice.
Emissions must be reduced as quickly as possible.
When states commit to becoming carbon neutral, those commitments must materialize into something observable in the atmosphere.
If we do not see, at the very least, a slowdown in the increase in greenhouse gases, then we cannot speak of any success in the fight against global warming
”.
The Amazon rainforest is no longer the lung of the earth
Another cause for concern.
These are natural carbon sinks, like oceans and forests.
In some cases, they are no longer able to fully play their role.
It is very visible in the Amazon, part of which releases more C02 than it absorbs.
The phenomenon is still poorly understood.
But if it escalated, it would call into question the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
►Also read: The Amazon, a sick lung in great danger
WMO calls on States to completely rethink their way of life: from industry, to the energy sector, including transport.
The necessary transformations are economically affordable, says the agency, and technically feasible.
CO2, the main cause of global warming, comes mainly from the combustion of fossil fuels and the production of cement.
Methane, of which about 60% of atmospheric emissions are of human origin (ruminant farming, rice cultivation, landfills, etc.), and nitrous oxide also reached peak concentrations in 2020.
The disaster already underway
The UN therefore hopes that world leaders will take concrete action at COP26 in Glasgow because as long as greenhouse gas emissions continue, the global temperature continues to rise.
And, since CO2 remains in the atmosphere for centuries and even longer in the ocean, the warming already observed will persist for decades, even if net emissions are reduced to zero, warns the WMO.
►
To read also
:
Global warming: the UN sounds the alarm on the production of fossil fuels
►
Consult the report of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
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