2019 was a Bad Year for the Planet

  March 11, 2020

In 2018, greenhouse gas levels breached previous records: CO2 levels crossing 407.8 parts per million. Projections show these emissions would have changed -0.2 to +1.5% in 2019. The warming of oceans reached 2 km below the surface beating a record set in 2018. 84% of the oceans witnessed at least one heatwave in 2019. Sea-level rise reached the highest last year. Arctic Sea ice was at its third-lowest on record. Heatwaves in India, Japan, Australia and Europe killed 1,400 people. Temperatures soared to record highs in Australia and many countries in Europe. France recorded 46°C (1.9°C above the previous record). Global hunger is on the rise again after a decade of decline. Climate change along with economic shocks and conflict left 820 million people hungry in 2018. Desert Locust outbreaks were the worst in 25 years and most serious in Kenya in the last 70 years. More than 22 million people were displaced because of Hydrometeorological events like cyclones and floods.

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