World’s oceans at most acidic level in 26,000 years, climate report warns

The world'soceansgrew to their warmest andmostacidiclevels on record last year, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Wednesday, as United Nations officials warned that war in Ukraine threatened globalclimatecommitments.

Oceanssaw themoststriking extremes as the WMO detailed a range of turmoil wrought byclimatechange in its annual "State of the GlobalClimate,"It said melting ice sheets had helped push sealevels to new heights in 2021.

"Ourclimateis changing before our eyes. The heat trapped by human-induced greenhouse gases will warm the planet for many generations to come," said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas in a statement.

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Thereportfollows the latest U.N.climateassessment, which warned that humanity must drastically cut its greenhouse gas emissions or face increasingly catastrophic changes to the world'sclimate.

Taalas toldreporters there was scant airtime forclimatechallenges as other crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and war in Ukraine, grabbed headlines.

Selwin Hart, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's special adviser onclimateaction, criticised countries reneging onclimatecommitments due to the conflict, which has pushed up energy prices and prompted European nations to seek to replace Russia as an energy supplier.

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DANGEROUS INCREASE

"We are ... seeing many choices being made by many major economies which, quite frankly, have the potential to lock in a high-carbon, high-polluting future and will place ourclimategoals at risk," Hart toldreporters.

On Tuesday, global equity index giant MSCI warned that the world faces a dangerous increase in greenhouse gases if Russian gas is replaced with coal.

The WMOreportsaidlevels ofclimate-warming carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere in 2021 surpassed previous records.

Globally, the average temperature last year was 1.11 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial average - as the world edges closer to the 1.5C threshold beyond which the effects of warming are expected to become drastic.

"It is just a matter of time before we see another warmest year on record," Taalas said.

Oceansbear much of the brunt of the warming and emissions. The bodies of water absorb around 90% of the Earth's accumulated heat and 23% of the carbon dioxide emissions from human activity.

The ocean has warmed markedly faster in the last 20years, hitting a new high in 2021, and is expected to become even warmer, thereportsaid. That change would likely take centuries or millennia to reverse, it noted.

The ocean is also now itsmostacidicin at least26,000yearsas it absorbs and reacts with more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Sealevelhas risen 4.5 cm (1.8 inches) in the last decade, with the annual increase from 2013 to 2021 more than double what it was from 1993 to 2002.

The WMO also listed individual extreme heatwaves, wildfires, floods and otherclimate-linked disasters around the world, notingreports of more than $100 billion in damages.

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