Four key measures of climate change hit record highs last year, the United Nations said Wednesday.
Greenhouse gas concentrations, sea level rise, ocean temperatures and ocean acidification all hit their highest recorded levels in 2021, leading to “harmful and long-lasting ramifications” for humans and nature, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
It said extreme weather supercharged by climate change last year had led to billions of dollars in economic losses and triggered shocks to global food and water supplies that were reverberating into 2022.
The WMO State of the Global Climate report found that the past seven years were the seven hottest on record and that temperatures in 2021 were 1.11 Celsius (2 Farenheit) above pre-industrial baseline levels.
U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said the assessment showed “the dismal litany of humanity’s failure to tackle climate disruption” and called for governments to accelerate their transition away from planet-warming fossil fuels.
