United News of Bangladesh

2024 has been recorded as the warmest year in the 175-year history of global temperature records, with average temperatures exceeding pre-industrial levels by more than 1.5°C. This alarming revelation comes from the “State of the Global Climate Report” released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Wednesday. Scientists warn that climate change is driving global temperatures and environmental damage to unprecedented levels, with vulnerable nations like Bangladesh feeling the impact. Bangladeshi climate experts have expressed concern over the findings, emphasising that the extreme climate events of 2023-24 will have long-lasting impacts on the country. They stress the urgent need for robust climate policies to mitigate further damage and protect the nation’s people and ecosystems. Dr. Atiq Rahman, Executive Director of the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, said, “Despite contributing minimally to global emissions, Bangladesh is bearing the brunt of climate change. We are not receiving adequate global compensation for the losses we endure.” Dr. Rahman called for a shift from polluting fossil fuels to cleaner energy alternatives, emphasizing the need for a homegrown climate strategy to safeguard the nation’s future. Meteorologist Abul Kalam Mallik urged Bangladesh to prioritize afforestation, water source conservation, and carbon emission reduction. “We must reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and adopt an integrated national policy to address the climate-related issues,” he said. The WMO report, released ahead of World Glacier Day (March 21), World Water Day (March 22), and World Meteorological Day (March 23), paints a grim picture of the global climate crisis. The year 2024 saw a record number of natural disasters linked to extreme weather events, including cyclones, typhoons, and heatwaves. Rain, thunderstorms expected over 4 divs, says BMD These events resulted in the highest number of displacements in 16 years, exacerbating food crises and causing massive economic losses worldwide. The report reveals that every year over the past decade has ranked among the 10 warmest on record. In 2024, rising temperatures were accompanied by increasing sea levels, intensified ocean heatwaves, and record-breaking atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Scientists warn that the consequences of these changes could be irreversible for centuries or even millennia. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized the urgency of the situation. “Our planet is sending distress signals. We must take effective action. There is an urgent need to develop opportunities for affordable, clean, and renewable energy for people and economies,” he said in the report. The WMO report notes that the average global temperature in 2024 was 1.6°C higher than the pre-industrial era (1850-1900), a period before large-scale fossil fuel use and the associated carbon emissions that have accelerated global warming. While the Paris Agreement aims to limit global temperature rise to no more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the rise in temperature this year is a stark warning. WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo cautioned, “Although a single year surpassing 1.5°C does not violate the long-term goal of the Paris Agreement, it serves as a stark warning that we are heightening risks to our lives, economies, and the entire planet.” The report attributes the record-high temperatures of 2023 and 2024 to rising greenhouse gas emissions and the transition from a cooling La Niña phase to a warming El Niño. Other contributing factors include shifts in the solar cycle, a massive volcanic eruption, and a decline in cooling aerosols. Beyond rising temperatures, 2024 saw increasing ocean temperatures, rising sea levels, accelerating glacier melt, and Antarctic sea ice shrinking to its second-lowest extent. Extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, and cyclones have exacerbated food shortages and caused significant economic losses globally.

Around 360 crore people currently face inadequate access to water at least a month per year, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in its State of Global Water Resources 2021 report published on Tuesday. The figure is projected to increase to more than 5 billion by 2050. The report assesses the effects of climate, environmental and societal change on the Earth's water resources. Its aim is to support the monitoring and management of global freshwater resources in an era of growing demand and limited supplies. It shows that due to the influence of climate change and a La Nina event (period cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific), the year 2021 witnessed large areas of the globe recording drier than normal conditions. Compared with the 30-year hydrological average, the area with below-average streamflow last year was approximately two times larger than the above-average area. Read: World’s largest active volcano Mauna Loa erupts in Hawaii Between 2001 and 2018, the interagency mechanism United Nations Water reported that 74 percent of all natural disasters were water-related. The recent 27th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) has urged governments to further integrate water into adaptation efforts. It was the first time that water has been referenced in a COP outcome document in recognition of its critical importance. According to WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas, though the impacts of climate change are often felt through water -- such as more intense and frequent droughts, more extreme flooding, more erratic seasonal rainfall and accelerated melting of glaciers -- there is still insufficient understanding of changes in the distribution, quantity and quality of freshwater resources. Read: World population at 8 billion: What new challenges will it create? The WMO report aims to fill this knowledge gap, which would be helpful in providing universal access in the next five years to early warnings of hazards, such as floods and droughts, he said.

There’s a 40% chance that the world will get so hot in the next five years that it will temporarily push past the temperature limit the Paris climate agreement is trying to prevent, meteorologists said. A new World Meteorological Organization forecast for the next several years also predicts a 90% chance that the world will set yet another record for the hottest year by the end of 2025 and that the Atlantic will continue to brew more potentially dangerous hurricanes than it used to. For this year, the meteorologists say large parts of land in the Northern Hemisphere will be 1.4 degrees (0.8 degrees Celsius) warmer than recent decades and that the U.S. Southwest’s drought will continue. The 2015 Paris climate accord set a goal of keeping warming to a few tenths of a degree warmer from now. The report said there is a 40% chance that at least one of the next five years will be 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than pre-industrial times — the more stringent of two Paris goals. The world is already 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial times. Read:Carbon storage offers hope for climate, cash for farmers Last year, the same group forecasted a 20% chance of it happening. The doubling of the odds is due to improvements in technology that show it has “actually warmed more than we thought already,” especially over the lightly-monitored polar regions, said Leon Hermanson, a climate scientist at the United Kingdom’s Met Center who helped on the forecast. “It’s a warning that we need to take strong action,” Hermanson said. Pennsylvania State University climate scientist Michael Mann, who wasn’t part of the report, said he is “almost certain” the world will exceed that Paris warming threshold at least once in the next few years. But he said one or two years above 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) isn’t as worrisome as when the overall trend of temperatures stays above that level. Mann said that won’t happen probably for decades and could still be prevented.

The World Meteorological Day 2021 was observed in the country as elsewhere in the world on Tuesday, focusing on the role of people to protect the ocean. The ocean drives the world’s weather and climate and anchors the global economy and food security. Climate change is hitting the ocean hard, but also increasing hazards for hundreds of millions of people, said a release of World Meteorological Organization. Also read:Ocean, climate, weather theme to mark World Met Day This year’s World Meteorological Day on 23 March is devoted to the theme “The ocean, our climate and weather.”  It highlights how observations, research and services are more critical than ever before for more than 70 percent of the Earth’s surface which is simultaneously increasingly vulnerable and perilous.

Bangladesh will observe the World Meteorological Day on Tuesday with the theme "The Ocean, Our climate and Weather."

The current onset of warmer temperatures in the northern hemisphere, should not be used as a trigger to relax measures to halt the spread of coronavirus, the UN weather agency cautioned on Thursday.

A deep depression over southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining area has intensified into the cyclonic storm "Burevi."

The International Lightning Awareness Day is being observed across the world on Sunday.

Record high temperatures reportedly measured in Antarctica will take months to verify, the U.N. weather agency said Sunday.

The temperature in northern Antarctica hit nearly 65 degrees (18.3 degrees Celsius), a likely heat record on the continent best known for snow, ice and penguins.