Journalism of Courage
Representatives from nations around the world are heading towards the concluding phase of the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 27) in Sharm el-Shaikh, Egypt.
The conference has witnessed nations participating in discussions that emphasize climate finance, including adaptation and mitigation finance, by bringing the concept of ‘loss and damage’ into the forefront. The world’s biggest emitters – China, the United States, the European Union and India – account for more than half of historical emissions of greenhouse gases.
As developing and vulnerable nations like India continue to demand compensation from developed nations for climate-induced damages, we look back at global catastrophes which severely impacted life on Earth during the year.
The World Meteorological Department cited a research analysis conducted as part of the World Weather Attribution group and said, “Human-caused climate change likely increased the intense rainfall that flooded large parts of Pakistan.”
Pakistan recorded 62 per cent less than normal rainfall in the month of March, and the warmest April preceding the monsoon season. Glaciers melted as a result of these heat waves, which led rivers to swell. Access to basic necessities became difficult for 33 million people of Pakistan’s 220 million population.
Extreme rainfall further triggered the most devastating floods from June to September. Over 1,500 people were killed, with millions being displaced and developing serious health issues such as skin infections, malaria and diarrhoea. A national emergency was declared on August 26, 2022. According to a Reuters report, the overall damages in the nation were estimated at about $30 billion.
At COP27, the country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sought debt relief and compensation as a part of “loss and damage” funds for disaster-hit nations.
NASA data revealed that warm ocean waters in the Gulf of Mexico powered Hurricane Ian in the US towards the end of September, making it one of the strongest hurricanes to hit the country in recent memory. About 101 lives were lost, and monetary losses worth more than $100 billion, were suffered, according to Reuters.
The escalation brought severe floods, relentless rains and strong winds to southwestern Florida. According to a New York Times report, “La Niña”, a climate phenomenon, fueled “favorable conditions for hurricanes in the North Atlantic over the past three years.” Warmer ocean waters strengthen and sustain such storms, it added.
Europe was struck by two extreme heat waves in June and July. As per a quarterly disaster report published by insurance agency Aon in October, heat waves claimed approximately 16,000 lives.
Following the deadly summer heat, many regions of Europe witnessed severe droughts since the beginning of this year, which worsened in the month of August. Water levels in Europe’s biggest rivers – Rhine, Po, Loire, and Danube – shrunk, and dry conditions continue to prevail in different parts of the continent.
The Global Drought Observatory (GDO) report by the European Commission’s research wing, declared 47% of the continent in “warning” conditions, while another 17% remained on alert. In an interview with the BBC, research commissioner Mariya Gabriel said that the heatwave and water shortages have “created an unprecedented stress on water levels in the entire EU.”
According to a report by World Weather Attribution, “human-induced climate change – especially high temperatures – increased the likelihood of observed soil moisture drought events.” But even in the UK, heatwaves and drought pushed trees into their “survival modes,” which made them turn into an autumnal shade in August.
North America, mainland China and other parts of the Northern Hemisphere also saw extreme heat conditions during the summer of 2022.
An atmospheric high-pressure system, which causes dry air to descend over subtropical regions in the Northern Hemisphere during winter and spring seasons, called Azores high, has the ability to block wet weather outlets. This caused dry conditions in Iberian peninsula in southwestern Europe, and the Mediterranean region. Spain and Portugal hence faced the driest weather in 1,200 years, along with wildfires.
As The Guardian reported, scientists claim that the “most frequent Azores highs could only have been caused by the climate crisis, caused by humanity’s carbon emissions.” Rainfall in the region is likely to drop by 10-20% by 2100, severely impacting food production.
According to a report by Centre for Science and Environment and Down To Earth magazine, India recorded “extreme weather events on 241 of 273 days” in the first nine months of the year. Thunderstorms, persistent rains, cyclones, droughts, heat waves, lightning, floods and landslides occurred all throughout these months. Himachal Pradesh recorded the highest number of deaths (359), followed by Assam and Madhya Pradesh.
Overall, these disasters claimed about “2,755 lives, affected 1.8 million hectares (ha) of crop area, destroyed over 416,667 houses and killed close to 70,000 livestock.” The CSE report describes these disasters as “the watermark of climate change.”
Besides these climate events, on the whole, increasing surface temperatures and global warming continue affecting our planet. According to a study by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), this year, the “June-August global land and ocean surface temperature were 1.6℉ above the 20th-century average of 60.1℉.” Further, August was the sixth-warmest, and October the fourth-warmest, in NOAA’s 143-year record.
