The world has been living on environmental warnings for many years, but the current year, which is nearing its end, witnessed unprecedented catastrophes and fluctuations due to global warming, while experts rule out that the year 2023 will be better off, because the situation is getting worse and worse.
The world included all climate disasters in 2022, such as wild floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, severe droughts, including drying up of lakes and rivers, forest fires, in addition to an unprecedented rise in temperature that was felt by everyone on the planet.
Disasters 2022
According to official statistics, environmental disasters in 2022 claimed the lives of thousands of people, and cost the world more than 300 billion dollars, the most prominent of which are:
• Hurricane Ian, which struck the United States, killing 150 people.
• Floods in Pakistan that killed hundreds of people and displaced millions, while China recorded less intense floods.
• Drought struck several rivers in Europe, as a result of the lack of rainfall. The levels of rivers and lakes decreased, especially the Rhine. Somalia also suffered the most severe drought in a quarter of a century.
• Forest fires caused by drought and high temperatures caused billions of losses in Europe, Asia, South America and the United States, and threatened the extinction of rare species of trees and animals, especially in Brazil.
food crisis
Climate change is fueling an unprecedented global food crisis, prompting the United Nations and the World Bank to issue warnings of a food disaster in 2023.
The United Nations said that several regions will witness a significant drop in temperatures, and others will witness an unexpected rise. Which affects agriculture and raises food prices.
And a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) monitored that by the end of December 2022, more than 125 million people would join the list below the poverty level.
climate conference “COP27”
The world seemed to sense the danger of climate change and its warnings in the future, during the “COP 27” summit, which Egypt hosted last November.
Egypt was keen to turn the recommendations of the summit into actions, by establishing a compensation fund to be sponsored by countries that bear the largest share in spoiling the climate, due to its industrial activities, so that these contributions go to the affected countries.
The summit witnessed divisions among countries over this file, as well as over reducing the use of fossil fuels, especially in light of the energy crisis that struck Europe.
In the end, the European Union agreed to establish the fund, while Washington rejected it, until a consensual formula was reached on the way it works.
What awaits the world in 2023?
Meteorologists and climate experts fear that the year 2023 will be the worst in terms of warming.
Britain’s official meteorologists expect the mean temperature limits in 2023 to be around 1.2°C higher.
The world has never been exposed to temperatures like this only 9 times, and if the predictions are correct, this will be the tenth year that the temperature reaches these levels.
The meteorologists attributed the cause to the energy crisis caused by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, as well as the increased use of materials that increase greenhouse emissions harmful to the atmosphere.
There are expectations that this change will kill thousands, and that climate losses in 2023 will reach a trillion dollars, if serious steps are not taken to stop this threat.
What is required?
The World Bank has identified 6 key factors that must be adhered to for a good climate, and to maintain a rise of only 1.5 degrees globally:
• The necessity of carbon pricing.
• End fossil fuel subsidies.
• Building resilient cities with low carbon emissions.
• Increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy.
• Applying climate-smart farming practices and expanding forests.
• Commitment to the official climate conventions.
