Global sea levels are rising at more than double the pace they did during the first decade of measurements from 1993 to 2002 and hit a new record high last year, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday, warning that the trend would continue for millennia.

Extreme glacier melt and record ocean heat levels — which cause water to expand — contributed to an average rise in sea levels of 4.62 millimetres a year between 2013 and 2022, the United Nations (UN) agency said in a major report detailing the havoc of climate change. That is about double the pace of the first decade on record, 1993 to 2002, leading to a total increase of over 10 centimetres since the early 1990s.

„We have already lost this melting of glaciers game and sea level rise game so that’s bad news,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas told a press conference. That is because such high levels of greenhouse gases have already been emitted that waters would continue to rise for „thousands of years.”

A man frowns in front of a blue and white logo featuring the world as seen in a flattened projection from above the north pole.
WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas told a press conference that sea levels would continue to rise for thousands of years due to greenhouse gases that have already been emitted. (Denis Balibouse/Reuters)

Rising sea levels threaten some coastal cities and the very existence of low-lying states such as the island of Tuvalu — which plans to build a digital version of itself in case it is submerged.

The annual report, released a day ahead of Earth Day, also showed that sea ice in Antarctica receded to record lows last June and July. Oceans were the warmest on record, with around 58 per cent of their surfaces experiencing a marine heatwave, it said.

Some 15,000 people died during Europe’s heatwaves last year, it stated.

Some bad news, some good news

Taalas said such extreme weather patterns would continue into the 2060s no matter what steps we take to reduce emissions. But he said there was still a chance to turn around things afterwards.

„The good news would be that we would be able to phase out this negative trend and even reach the 1.5 degrees (Celsius) limit,” he said, noting more ambitious climate plans from G7 countries that could enable the world to meet the 2015 Paris temperature target.

An iceberg with a hole in it floats among other icebergs in front of a cliff of ice.
An iceberg floats along the water, close to Fournier Bay, Antarctica, February 3, 2020. Sea ice in Antarctica receded to record lows last June and July and oceans were the warmest on record, the WMO reports. (Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)

How global temperatures ranked in 2022

Overall, the WMO said 2022 ranked as the fifth or sixth warmest year on record with the mean global temperature 1.15 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average, despite the cooling impact of a three-year La Niña climatic event.

Climate scientists have warned that the world could breach a new average temperature record in 2023 or 2024, fuelled by climate change and the anticipated return of warming El Niño conditions.



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