This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.
Chilliest Spring in years is cold comfort for planet Earth as emissions rise
Rising greenhouse gas levels are set to bring negative impacts for generations to come, UN weather experts said on Tuesday.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) issued the warning after the latest carbon dioxide emissions data from the benchmark Mauna Loa monitoring station, showed a “considerable rise” last month, compared with a year ago.
Carbon dioxide emissions continue to be a key driver of climate change, WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis told journalists in Geneva.
But she dismissed suggestions that global warming had slowed, after the coldest spring in Europe since 2013:
“The fact CO2 does have such a long lifetime in the atmosphere does mean that future generations - and we’re not just talking about one or two, we’re talking about many generations - will be committed to seeing more impacts of climate change, that means rising temperatures, more extreme weather, melting ice, rising sea level and all the associated impacts.”
According to data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, the global average temperature for the month of May was 0.26 degrees Celsius higher from 1991 to 2020.
Ocean blues continue as CO2 spike threatens marine life and jobs
In related news, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Tuesday urged action to protect the world’s oceans from growing carbon emissions and acidification.
Marking World Oceans Day on 8 June, the UN agency explained that the more acid seawater is, the less CO2 it can absorb.
Ocean acidification and marine heatwaves have already weakened coral reefs which shield coastlines and are vital marine ecosystems, WMO said.
In the last 30 years, between 25 and 50 per cent of the world’s live coral have been lost and by mid-century it is predicted that functional coral reef ecosystems could be lost “around most of the world”, according to a UN report.
WMO also noted that more than 80 per cent of the planet’s oceans experienced at least one marine heatwave in 2020.
Rescued Rohingya given food, water in Indonesia’s East Aceh
Finally, to Indonesia, where more than 80 Rohingya refugees have been rescued at sea and brought to land, sparking concerns that many more may need help in the coming weeks and months.
The UN migration agency, IOM, said on Tuesday that the group had been on the move since February, when they left Cox’s Bazar camp complex in Bangladesh, which is home to hundreds of thousands of ethnic Rohingya who fled persecution in Myanmar in 2017.
After floating adrift at sea for four days, the refugees were initially rescued by the Indian Navy near the Andaman Islands. Nine died after drinking seawater, IOM said.
The 45 women, 17 men and 19 children resumed their journey to Malaysia in mid-May, but developed engine problems near East Aceh, where fishermen brought them to safety on Friday.
In an appeal to the nations of Southeast Asia to reach an agreement on the rescue of seabound migrants and refugees, IOM urged solidarity to avoid a repeat of 2015 “when thousands of men, women and children were abandoned at sea at the cost of many lives”.
Daniel Johnson, UN News.
