global warming

People cross a flooded river in western Haiti after a bridge was washed away by Hurricane Matthew. (file)
MINUSTAH/Logan Abassi

‘Tipping point’ for climate action: Time’s running out to avoid catastrophic heating

16 September 2021
Climate and Environment

The temporary reduction in carbon emissions caused by global COVID-19 lockdowns did not slow the relentless advance of climate change. Greenhouse gas concentrations are at record levels, and the planet is on path towards dangerous overheating, a multi-agency climate report published on Thursday warns. 

Across the world, more incidents of extreme weather events are being recorded.
WMO/Daniel Pavlinovic

Climate and weather related disasters surge five-fold over 50 years, but early warnings save lives - WMO report

1 September 2021
Climate and Environment

Climate change and increasingly extreme weather events, have caused a surge in natural disasters over the past 50 years disproportionately impacting poorer countries, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) said on Wednesday.

Ice sheets in Jökulsárlón, Iceland.
Unsplash/Roxanne Desgagnés

News in Brief 9 August 2021

9 August 2021
News in Brief
  • 'Code red for humanity' in new UN global heating report
  • Nagasaki survivors 76 years on, fuelling 'powerful global movement'
  • 'Shocking' escalation in violence against Afghan children: UNICEF
Audio -
3'20"
The aftermath of Hurricane Irma in Barbuda.
UNDP/Michael Atwood

Climate change affects everyone, but we can still hold back global warming: IPCC report

9 August 2021
Interviews

As preparations gear up for this November’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, the leading scientific body responsible for assessing the latest evidence on climate change says human activity is “indisputably” to blame.

Jonathan Lynn, Spokesperson for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) told UN News’s Daniel Johnson, that there is a chance that by limiting greenhouse gas emissions, we can slow down sea level rise and significantly slow global warming.

Audio -
7'2"
A wildfire burns in a national park in Oregon, USA.
Unsplash/Marcus Kauffman

IPCC report: ‘Code red’ for human driven global heating, warns UN chief

9 August 2021
Climate and Environment

Climate change is widespread, rapid, and intensifying, and some trends are now irreversible, at least during the present time frame, according to the latest much-anticipated Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, released on Monday.

Late September sunrise as seen from Paalijärvi observation tower in Alajärvi, Finland. May 2020, was the warmest on record, UN weather agency WMO has confirmed.
WMO/Tapio Niemi

News in Brief 8 June 2021

8 June 2021
News in Brief
  • Chilly Spring, cold comfort for planet as emissions rise again
  • Ocean blues, as CO2 spike threatens marine life, jobs
  • Rescued Rohingya given food, water in Indonesia
Audio -
3'4"
The town of Kendal in England, UK.
Unsplash/Ian Cylkowski

Chilliest Spring in years is cold comfort as CO2 emissions rise: WMO

8 June 2021
Climate and Environment

Confirmation that Europe has just had its chilliest Spring in years is cold comfort for the planet, amid rising greenhouse gas levels which will bring negative impacts for generations to come, UN weather experts said on Tuesday.

Sunrise in the Ebro Delta in Spain's Catalonia region.
WMO/Agusti Descarrega Sola

World now likely to hit watershed 1.5 °C rise in next five years, warns UN weather agency

26 May 2021
Climate and Environment

Odds are increasing that the annual average global temperature will rise beyond 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, in at least one of the next five years, the UN weather agency warns in a new report issued on Thursday.