The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Chilliest Spring in years is cold comfort for planet Earth as emissions rise: WMO
Confirmation that Europeans have just experienced their 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.
“Europe had its coldest spring since 2013; the average March-May temperature was 0.45 degrees Celsius (C) below the 1991-2020 average,” said Clare Nullis, spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
“Just because this year has got off to a relatively cool start by recent standards, does not mean that we’ve hit the pause button on climate change.”
According to data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (ECMWF), Europe’s cold May contrasted with the global average temperature for the month, which was 0.26C higher than the 1991-2020 mean.
Temperatures were well above average over western Greenland, north Africa, the Middle East and northern and western Russia while below-average May temperatures were reported over the southern and central United States, parts of northern Canada, south-central Africa, most of India, eastern Russia, and eastern Antarctica.
Reiterating how carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions continue to be a key driver of climate change, the WMO spokesperson relayed the latest data from the world's benchmark atmospheric monitoring station in Hawaii, the Mauna Loa Observatory, issued by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography on Monday evening.
“According to the new figures, the May monthly average figures of CO2 in the atmosphere at Mauna Loa - this one particular site - was 419.13 parts per million; that’s up and it’s quite a considerable rise, that’s up from 417.31 in May of last years.”
And because CO2 has “such a long lifetime in the atmosphere”, Ms. Nullis explained that “many generations” would likely endure a series of natural shocks linked to climate change: “rising temperatures, more extreme weather, melting ice, rising sea level and all the associated impacts.”
For World Oceans Day 2021, on 8 June, the WMO official also underscored that the latest CO2 emissions data signalled increasing acidification of the seas and, linked to this, a drop in the amount of CO2 that can be absorbed.
“Today is World Oceans Day; these CO2 figures which I just mentioned are going to have a very real and very serious impact on the ocean; and this is because and this is because the ocean absorbs more than 23 per cent of CO2 emissions.”
Ocean acidification and marine heatwaves have already weakened coral reefs which shield coastlines and are vital marine ecosystems, WMO noted.
In the last 30 years, between 25 and 50 per cent of the world’s live coral have been lost “and it is predicted that by mid-century we could lose functional coral reef ecosystems around most of the world”, according to a UNEP/FAO report issued for World Environment Day.
ends
STORY: Cold European Spring - WMO
TRT: 2 mins 02s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 8 June 2021 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot, Palais des Nations flag alley, nations’ flags flying, a sunny day.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Clare Nullis, spokesperson, World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “Europe had its coldest spring since 2013; the average March-May temperature was 0.45 degrees Celsius below the 1991-2020 average.”
- Wide shot, UN staff member sitting, masked, in Room XIV, Palais des Nations, press conference venue.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Clare Nullis, spokesperson, World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “Just because this year has got off to a relatively cool start by recent standards, does not mean that we’ve hit the pause button on climate change.”
- Medium shot UN staff member sitting, framed between unused chairs, in Room XIV, Palais des Nations, press conference venue.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Clare Nullis, spokesperson, World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “And according to the new figures, the May monthly average figures of CO2 in the atmosphere at Mauna Loa - this one particular site - was 419.13 parts per million; that’s up and it’s quite a considerable rise, that’s up from 417.31 in May of last years.”
- Wide shot, cameraman carrying TV camera in a near-empty Room XIV where chairs are cordoned off with blue and white plastic tape. Another UN staff member is shown seated and masked and looking at his laptop.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Clare Nullis, spokesperson, World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “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.”
- Medium shot, TV cameraman adjusting his camera, UN staffer seated and masked, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- SOUNDBITE (English) — Clare Nullis, spokesperson, World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “Today is World Oceans Day; these CO2 figures which I just mentioned are going to have a very real and very serious impact on the ocean; and this is because the ocean absorbs more than 23 per cent of CO2 emissions.”
- Medium-wide shot, journalist, masked, takes handwritten notes while using conference listening device, chairs cordoned off with blue and white tape Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
- Wide shot, Room XIV, TV camera operator, two other participants seated, Palais des Nations.
- Medium shot, journalist, seated and masked behind cordoned-off chairs, Room XIV, Palais des Nations.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO
Death and suffering in Gaza are ever-present and the enclave's people now have little choice but to risk their lives to fetch aid supplies, UN agencies said on Friday. “I met a little boy who was wounded by a tank shell at one of these sites on the final day of me leaving Gaza - I learnt that this little boy had since died of those injuries,” said UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder. “That speaks to both what is happening at these sites and what is not happening when it comes to medical evacuations.”
1
1
1
Edited News | UNCTAD
UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launched today the World Investment Report 2025. Global foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 11%, marking the second consecutive year of decline and confirming a deepening slowdown in productive capital flows, according to the report.
1
1
1
Edited News
Afghan journalist Zahra Nader fled twice due to Taliban rule, highlighting severe women's rights issues.
1
1
1
Edited News
Gazan photojournalist Motaz Azaiza documents war's impact, gaining global attention but facing personal peril.
1
1
1
Edited News | HRC
As the Iran-Israel crisis continued into a sixth day, the UN deputy human rights chief Nada Al-Nashif called for urgent talks to end the continuing exchanges of missile attacks between Tehran and Tel-Aviv.
2
1
1
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC
Heavy fighting in Sudan continues to escalate as a “direct result” of the continued flow of arms into the country meaning that the war is far from over, top independent human rights investigators said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
More Gazans killed trying to get food, healthcare near to ‘full disaster’
Gaza’s health system is at breaking point, overwhelmed time and again by scores of patients killed or injured near aid distribution sites, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
La situation en République démocratique du Congo est aujourd’hui encore plus grave et alarmante, a averti lundi le Haut-Commissaire des Nations Unies aux droits de l’homme Volker Türk.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his global update to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, highlighting key issues and trends, and the human rights situation in some 60 countries.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNDP
As diplomatic efforts continue to end fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UN development agency (UNDP) issued an appeal on Friday on behalf of people uprooted by the violence to help them rebuild their lives and livelihoods.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
The very real risk of famine continues to stalk Sudan’s communities impacted by war, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday, in an appeal for more funding to support immediate needs and boost longer-term recovery across the country.
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
What can each one of us do to save the planet, asks Yann Arthus-Bertrand on World Environment Day
The last documentary film of legendary nature photographer, documentary director and environmental activist “Nature: The Call for Reconciliation” looks for an answer.