“Our climate is imploding faster than we can cope with extreme conditions, with weather events hitting every corner of the world. (…) In this scenario, leaders must increase the pressure now so as to find solutions after the planet endured this summer a boiling season,” he said.
In Guterres’s opinion, the world can still avoid the worst of the climate chaos, and warned that “we have no time to lose.”
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the European Commission’s Copernicus Service confirmed that July was the hottest month ever recorded. In the first three weeks of July, the planet experienced the hottest period, the three hottest days, and the highest ocean temperatures for this time of year on record.
“The consequences are clear and tragic: children washed away by monsoon rains; families fleeing the flames; workers collapsing in scorching heat,” Guterres told the press.
According to WMO data, 27 percent of the world ocean is experiencing a marine heat wave that affects the marine environment and associated ecosystems since August 2023, while driving the development of tropical cyclones.
More recent data ensures that around 90 percent of the excess heat associated with global warming, has been absorbed by the ocean. The absorption of heat caused the global ocean surface temperature to rise by about 0.9 degrees since pre-industrial times.
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