Two million dead is just the beginning: It will soon get worse

 

Climate change  

 

Two million dead is just the beginning – it will soon get worse  

Joachim Kerpner

 

Updated 12:53 | Posted 12:46 p.m  

 

News  

 

Two million have died in disasters caused by extreme weather in the last 50 years.  

 

But that is only the beginning.  

 

As early as 2030, up to 670 million people are threatened by starvation, partly due to extreme weather events, the weather organization WMO estimates. 

 

Quick version 

  

* According to a report by the world organization WMO, extreme weather has caused two million deaths in the last 50 years. 

 

* The report highlights that only 15 percent of the UN's sustainability goals will be met by 2030 - and there is a 98 percent risk that one of the next five years will be record hot.  

 

 * The warning: by 2030, up to 670 million people could suffer from hunger due to climate change.  

 

The summer of 2023 became a burning reminder of where the earth is headed. 

 

In a new climate report from the World Meteorological Organization, WMO, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says: 

 

- 2023 has clearly shown that the climate has already changed. Record-high temperatures scorch the earth and heat the oceans as extreme weather wreaks havoc around the globe. The global response is insufficient, while we know that this is only the beginning. Halfway to the deadline for the UN's 2030 sustainability goals, the world is not making progress, notes Guterres.  

 

The WMO report, called United in Science, states that only 15 percent of the UN's sustainability goals are on track to be met by 2030. At the same time, the report shows that scientific progress is super important in the fight against climate change, for example, better weather reports can help increase food production and thereby reduce world hunger. 

 

Daniel caused massive flooding in Libya. Photo: Yousef Murad / AP  

 

Storm Daniel also hit Greece. Photo: Vaggelis Kousioras / AP  

 

The WMO report states that there is a 98 percent risk that one of the next five years will be the warmest since temperature measurements began. Currently, we look set to exceed the 1.5 degree target in the early 2030s, measured as a 20-year average, according to the UN's climate panel IPCC. 

 

- Science continues to show that we are not doing enough to reduce emissions and reach the goals of the Paris Agreement, says Inger Andersen, CEO of the UN Environment Program UNEP in the report.  

 

Two million people died between 1970 and 2021 in 12,000 disasters caused by extreme weather and climate events, causing losses of $4.3 trillion, according to the WMO report.  

 

In just seven years, in 2030, the increase in extreme weather events is expected to contribute to almost 670 million being threatened with starvation. Climate change and extreme heat waves are also expected to greatly increase the number of premature deaths in the world, according to the IPCC.  

 

 

Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP