Including severe heat waves, droughts and floods

Experts confirm that the world is facing more violent weather

• Climate change is behind current natural disasters.

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• The fires came to large areas in Europe.

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• China has suffered several weather fluctuations in recent months.

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Deadly floods in Pakistan, unprecedented heat waves in China, droughts causing famine in parts of Africa, and unusually high temperatures in the United States, Europe and Australia.

It's the impact of human-caused climate change that is being felt all over the world, with experts warning that extreme weather events are no longer the exception, but the new norm.

“Pakistan has witnessed a relentless series of heat waves, wildfires, flash floods, multiple avalanches of glacial lakes and flood events, and now strong monsoons are wreaking havoc across the country,” said Sherry Rehman, Minister for Climate Change Affairs of Pakistan. .

In March, Pakistan experienced just the opposite, with swathes of the country seeing temperatures soar to 50°C - the warmest month in 60 years.

The unusual heat, along with mediocre rainfall, also reduced yields and helped melt snow and ice in the mountainous regions of Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkwa, melting water in at least one glacial lake, according to the Meteorological Organization. to the United Nations.

Neighboring India was also affected, where the organization said the country recorded its highest temperature for the month of March ever, with 1.86 degrees Celsius above average.

The organization noted that extreme heat has become “30 times more likely due to climate change,” adding that “such heat waves and humid heat stress will be most severe this century in South Asia, one of the world’s most densely populated regions.

The forecast is not limited to South Asia, where scientists expect hot, dry weather to become increasingly common and severe in many other parts of the world.

Meanwhile, Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in late July: “In the future, these types of heat waves will be natural.

We will see the rigors of nature get stronger, so much carbon dioxide has been pumped into the atmosphere, that the negative trend will continue for decades, unless we can reduce our emissions globally.”

"I hope this will be a wake-up call for governments, and will have an impact on voting behavior in democratic countries," Taalas added.

China, India's neighbor, has been witnessing a combination of record heat waves, severe droughts, and deadly rains, since June, in what the World Meteorological Organization called "the summer of violent volatility."

"The weather and climate in China is harsh and complex, with high temperatures and droughts in the south, and increased rainfall in the north," said FAO Assistant Secretary-General Dr. Wenjian Zhang. "The conjunction of droughts and floods has created challenges for disaster prevention." mitigation and relief work.

Record

According to the China Meteorological Administration, the south is experiencing the longest and most intense heat wave since weather records began in 1961, breaking the 2013 record of 62 days by August 15.

The wave also covered an area of ​​5.4 million square kilometers, or nearly half of the country's total area.

Most provinces and cities along the Yangtze River experienced low rainfall, with some places seeing less than 80% of normal precipitation, resulting in moderate to severe drought, power outages, reduced economic activity and a higher risk of forest fires.

According to data from China's Ministry of Emergency Management, the drought alone affected 5.527 million people in July, and caused a direct economic loss of 2.73 billion yuan ($395 million).

Meanwhile, drought-stricken parts of the Horn of Africa are bracing for their fifth consecutive worst rainy season, exacerbating a regional crisis that is already affecting millions of people.

The World Meteorological Organization noted, in particular, that drought-affected regions in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are expected to see much less rain than usual until the end of the year, adding that the rainfall deficit is likely to extend to parts of Eritrea. , and most areas in Uganda as well as Tanzania.

The October-December season typically contributes up to 70% of the total annual precipitation in tropical parts of the greater Horn of Africa, particularly in eastern Kenya.

Unprecedented high temperatures, combined with drought, wildfires and stress on healthcare systems, are also affecting parts of Europe, Australia and the United States.

In it, a climate expert at the World Meteorological Organization, Atsushi Goto, said that "as the climate warms, the frequency and intensity of violent weather fluctuations will increase, so we can say that heat waves, droughts and floods will be normal in the future."

security issues

In addition to the vagaries of weather, climate change is also affecting the global geopolitical landscape, particularly the Asia-Pacific region, where it can exacerbate existing security problems and, in the worst case, lead to the emergence of new and unpredictable threats.

As sea levels continue to rise, small islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans as well as major coastal cities in China, South Asia and Southeast Asia are already at risk.

Land may become uninhabitable in the coming decades, in many countries.

“There is undeniable evidence from conflict zones and hotspots around the world that climate change is a major driver of violence,” Maldives Defense Minister Maria Ahmed Didi said in June, warning that as the world entered unprecedented climate conditions, Likewise, conflicts are likely to become "more tense, pervasive and bloodier."

And the Maldives is not alone in feeling these concerns.

Indeed, a survey published last year of 57 global climate security experts revealed a consensus that the risks of events exacerbated by climate change affecting global security will become more acute within the next two decades.

• The Meteorological Organization indicated that extreme heat has become 30 times more likely, due to climate change.

• Unprecedented high temperatures, combined with drought, wildfires and stress on healthcare systems, are affecting parts of Europe, Australia and the United States.

• 80% reduction in precipitation occurred in counties along the Yangtze River in China.

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