Latest news with #WorldMeteorologicalOrganization
NDTV
a day ago
- Science
- NDTV
World May Exhaust 1.5 Degree Celsius Carbon Budget In 3 Years: Scientists
New Delhi: If the world continues to release carbon dioxide at the current rate, the carbon budget for limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius will be exhausted in just over three years, according to an international group of scientists. The carbon budget refers to the total amount of carbon dioxide the planet can emit while still having a good chance of staying below a certain temperature threshold. In this case, the limit is 1.5 degrees Celsius, which countries agreed to at the Paris climate conference in 2015. Exceeding the carbon budget does not mean the 1.5-degree limit will be crossed immediately. It means the world is on course to surpass it very soon unless emissions are drastically cut. The latest "Indicators of Global Climate Change" study, published in the journal Earth System Science Data, also found that the carbon budget for 2 degrees Celsius could be exceeded by 2048 if current levels of CO2 emissions continue. Scientists said human activities have led to the release of around 53 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Gt CO2e) into the atmosphere every year over the past decade. This is mainly due to increasing emissions from burning fossil fuels and deforestation. In the last 10 years (2015 to 2024), the Earth's temperature was 1.24 degrees Celsius higher than it was before the industrial era began. Scientists say 1.22 degrees Celsius of this warming was caused by human activities. The year 2024 was the hottest on record and marked the first calendar year with a global average temperature more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above the 1850-1900 baseline, the period before human activities such as fossil fuel use began significantly affecting the climate. A permanent breach of the 1.5-degree Celsius target in the Paris Agreement refers to sustained warming over a 20 to 30-year period. Last month, the World Meteorological Organization said there is a 70 per cent chance that the average global temperature between 2025 and 2029 will exceed pre-industrial levels by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. In 2022, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said the world must cut greenhouse gas emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, compared to 2019 levels, to keep the temperature rise within 1.5 degrees Celsius since the Industrial Revolution. However, IPCC Chair Jim Skea told PTI in an interview in March that the 43 per cent reduction target is now outdated due to a lack of action, meaning the actual reduction needed is even higher.
RTHK
2 days ago
- Science
- RTHK
Chinese meteorologist wins WMO's highest honour
Chinese meteorologist wins WMO's highest honour The award for Xu is considered the equivalent of the Nobel prize to the WMO community. Photo courtesy of World Meteorological Organization. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced on Thursday that its highest honour, the International Meteorological Organization (IMO) Prize, will be awarded this year to Xu Jianmin, a pioneering figure in the development of China's meteorological satellite system and a leading force in satellite data application and services. Xu is scheduled to receive the award at the WMO Executive Council meeting in 2026. The IMO Prize recognises exceptional achievements in meteorology, hydrology, and contributions to international cooperation in these fields. An academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering since 1997, Xu played a central role in designing the foundational architecture of the FengYun (FY) Meteorological Satellite Ground System. He was instrumental in solving critical challenges in FY satellite navigation, advancing key technologies for satellite-based products, and expanding the global use of FY satellite data in observation, forecasting, and meteorological services, according to the WMO. (Xinhua)
New Straits Times
3 days ago
- Health
- New Straits Times
Longer exposure, more pollen: climate change worsens allergies
RUNNY nose, itching eyes, worsening asthma symptoms – the effects of hay fever are nothing to sneeze at, experts say, warning of an "explosion" of allergies as climate change lengthens and intensifies pollen seasons. The UN's World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has found that a shifting climate has already begun altering the production and distribution of pollen and spores. As winter frost thaws earlier and spring weather gets warmer, plants and trees flower earlier, extending the pollen season, numerous studies have shown. Air pollution can also increase people's sensitivity to allergens, while invasive species are spreading into new regions and causing fresh waves of allergies. More and more people, particularly in industrialised nations, have reported developing allergy symptoms in recent decades. Around a quarter of adults in Europe suffer from airborne allergies, including severe asthma, while the proportion among children is 30 to 40 per cent. That figure is expected to rise to half of Europeans by 2050, according to the World Health Organization. "We're in crisis because allergies are exploding," said Severine Fernandez, president of the French Allergists' Union. Whereas previously an allergic person would endure only what is commonly known as hay fever, albeit sometimes for years, "now that person can become asthmatic after one or two years", Fernandez said. Climate change affects allergy patients in multiple ways, according to a 2023 report by the WMO. Rising levels of carbon dioxide, one of the main heat-trapping gases produced by burning fossil fuels, boost plant growth, in turn increasing pollen production. Air pollution not only irritates the airways of people exposed, but it also causes stress to plants, which then produce more "allergenic and irritant pollen." Nicolas Visez, an aerobiologist at the University of Lille, said each plant species reacted differently to a variety of factors such as water availability, temperature and CO2 concentrations. Birch trees for example will wither as summers get hotter and drier, while the heat causes a proliferation of ragweed, a highly allergenic invasive plant. "There's no doubt that climate change is having an effect," Visez said. In a study published in 2017, researchers projected that ragweed allergies would more than double in Europe by 2041-2060 as a result of climate change, raising the number of people affected from 33 million to 77 million. The authors suggested that higher pollen concentrations as well as longer pollen seasons could make symptoms more severe. A Europe-wide "AutoPollen" programme under development aims to provide real-time data on the distribution of pollen and fungal spores. In Switzerland, a tie-up with MeteoSwiss allows patients and doctors to match personal allergy profiles with maps of specific allergens throughout the country. In parts of France, authorities have planted "pollinariums", gardens packed with the main local allergen species. These provide information on the very first pollen released into the air so that people can start taking antihistamines and other protective measures in a timely manner. "Hazelnuts have started to bloom as early as mid-December, which wasn't the case before," said Salome Pasquet, a botanist with the association behind the pollen gardens. "That's really because we've had very mild winters, so flowering has come earlier," she said. Some countries are taking an interventionist approach – cutting off the pollen at the source. In Japan, the government announced a plan in 2023 to combat allergies caused by the archipelago's many cedar trees, which includes felling cedars to replace them with species that produce less pollen. Countries in Europe are also more mindful of species in the environment, both native ones that have been planted and invasive newcomers like ragweed. Preference is given to species with a lower allergenic potential, such as maple or fruit trees. "The idea is not to stop planting allergenic species," Pasquet said, but to be mindful of creating diversity and avoiding having "places where there are rows of birch trees, as was the case a few years ago." It was birch trees in a client's garden that originally set off symptoms for Simon Barthelemy, an architect who lives near Paris. "I had a major eye allergy, and it's been a recurring problem every year since," he said. "I'm on antihistamines, but if I don't take them I get itchy eyes, I'm very tired, I cough... I can't sleep at night."
France 24
4 days ago
- Health
- France 24
Longer exposure, more pollen: climate change worsens allergies
The UN's World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has found that a shifting climate has already begun altering the production and distribution of pollen and spores. As winter frost thaws earlier and spring weather gets warmer, plants and trees flower earlier, extending the pollen season, numerous studies have shown. Air pollution can also increase people's sensitivity to allergens, while invasive species are spreading into new regions and causing fresh waves of allergies. More and more people, particularly in industrialised nations, have reported developing allergy symptoms in recent decades. Around a quarter of adults in Europe suffer from airborne allergies, including severe asthma, while the proportion among children is 30 to 40 percent. That figure is expected to rise to half of Europeans by 2050, according to the World Health Organization. "We're in crisis because allergies are exploding," said Severine Fernandez, president of the French Allergists' Union. Whereas previously an allergic person would endure only what is commonly known as hay fever, albeit sometimes for years, "now that person can become asthmatic after one or two years", Fernandez said. 'Irritant pollen' Climate change affects allergy patients in multiple ways, according to a 2023 report by the WMO. Rising levels of carbon dioxide, one of the main heat-trapping gases produced by burning fossil fuels, boost plant growth, in turn increasing pollen production. Air pollution not only irritates the airways of people exposed, but it also causes stress to plants, which then produce more "allergenic and irritant pollen". Nicolas Visez, an aerobiologist at the University of Lille, said each plant species reacted differently to a variety of factors such as water availability, temperature and CO2 concentrations. Birch trees for example will wither as summers get hotter and drier, while the heat causes a proliferation of ragweed, a highly allergenic invasive plant. "There's no doubt that climate change is having an effect," Visez said. In a study published in 2017, researchers projected that ragweed allergies would more than double in Europe by 2041-2060 as a result of climate change, raising the number of people affected from 33 million to 77 million. The authors suggested that higher pollen concentrations as well as longer pollen seasons could make symptoms more severe. Allergy action A Europe-wide "AutoPollen" programme under development aims to provide real-time data on the distribution of pollen and fungal spores. In Switzerland, a tie-up with MeteoSwiss allows patients and doctors to match personal allergy profiles with maps of specific allergens throughout the country. In parts of France, authorities have planted "pollinariums", gardens packed with the main local allergen species. These provide information on the very first pollen released into the air so that people can start taking antihistamines and other protective measures in a timely manner. "Hazelnuts have started to bloom as early as mid-December, which wasn't the case before," said Salome Pasquet, a botanist with the association behind the pollen gardens. "That's really because we've had very mild winters, so flowering has come earlier," she said. Some countries are taking an interventionist approach -- cutting off the pollen at the source. In Japan, the government announced a plan in 2023 to combat allergies caused by the archipelago's many cedar trees, which includes felling cedars to replace them with species that produce less pollen. Countries in Europe are also more mindful of species in the environment, both native ones that have been planted and invasive newcomers like ragweed. Preference is given to species with a lower allergenic potential, such as maple or fruit trees. "The idea is not to stop planting allergenic species," Pasquet said, but to be mindful of creating diversity and avoiding having "places where there are rows of birch trees, as was the case a few years ago". It was birch trees in a client's garden that originally set off symptoms for Simon Barthelemy, an architect who lives near Paris. "I had a major eye allergy, and it's been a recurring problem every year since," he said.
RTÉ News
6 days ago
- RTÉ News
Warming climate increases summer tourism to Ireland
Travel agents say there's been a noticeable trend with a rising number of holidaymakers looking to avoid rising temperatures and extreme weather during the summer months in continental Europe. Figures suggest more people are shying away from traditional sunspots in Greece and Spain and are instead opting for cooler destinations in northern Europe. It follows a recent report from the World Meteorological Organization showing Europe is the world's fastest-warming continent. Claire Doherty, Products and Operations Director with the Dublin based Travel Department, said what she has noticed is that there's "definitely a decline in people going to what would be considered the hotter European destinations during the summer months. "There are two things happening. One is that they are still going to those areas. Those areas are not declining, but they are choosing to go in April and May or September, October, whereas previously May and September would have been quite busy. "April and October are becoming just as busy as those now - it's what we call the shoulder periods. "Then in the actual summer months for people travelling, there's more northern Europe ... places like Norway, which is up 50% year on year. Definitely people are going to cooler climates during those months," she adds. This shift is also on the radar of travel writer Sarah Slattery, who says summer sun holidays have become cheaper, while previously unfamiliar destinations have come to the fore. "Definitely, in the last year or two, there's been a big change," according to the founder of The Travel Expert website. "I noticed only literally this week when I was doing my travel-deals posts that it was cheaper to go away in July than it was to go at the end of June, which really never happens. "Another one I thought was really interesting was Bergen in Norway - there were never direct flights (from Dublin) to Bergen, and two years ago, they started twice weekly. "Then last year they went three times weekly, and now they're four times weekly in the summer. That's telling in itself, you can see the demand is there to try new places and try the cooler climates." Warming climate bringing more summer tourism to Ireland However, it's not just the Nordics seeing a bump in tourism. Findings from research funded by Clare County Council and University of Limerick at the Cliffs of Moher suggest the warming climate is bringing more people to Ireland. Ernesto Batista, a PhD student at the University of Limerick, was heavily involved in the research. "Last year, during the summer, we were asking customers at the cliffs their perceptions about Ireland and what was the main motivation of coming to Ireland," he explains. "Surprisingly, we found out that most of them were saying they were coming because of the temperatures and mild weather conditions. So especially customers were coming from Spain, from France, from countries in Europe that saw heatwaves in 2023. "They were looking for a nicer experience in terms of weather conditions." Though Mr Batista notes that "this is a very new phenomenon that we're actually seeing and there has been a long academic debate about it. "It's just starting to happen now so more research needs to be conducted. Accordingly, more customers need to be surveyed to understand motivations, and how big an impact this will have."
