Climate change ‘speeding up,’ UN warns as Canada braces for early wildfires

Climate change is “speeding up,” the head of the United Nations says as B.C. and Alberta prepare for an early start to wildfire season.

Climate change is “speeding up,” the head of the United Nations says as B.C. and Alberta prepare for an early start to wildfire season.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres made those comments Tuesday in reaction to a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report that found 2023 broke every single climate indicator record the organization has.

“Sirens are blaring across all major indicators. … Some records aren’t just chart-topping, they’re chart-busting,” he said.

“And changes are speeding up.”

The WMO, which is the UN’s weather agency, said in its annual State of the Global Climate report on Tuesday, that average temperatures hit the highest level in 174 years of record-keeping. Last year, the average hit 1.45 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Ocean temperatures also reached the warmest in 65 years of data, with more than 90 per cent of seas having experienced heatwave conditions during the year. That fact harms food systems, the WMO said.

Climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, coupled with the emergence of the natural El Nino climate pattern, pushed the world into record territory in 2023.

Scientists have warned that 2024 could be even worse, with El Nino fueling temperatures in the first few months of the year.