“Europe had its coldest spring since 2013; the average March-May temperature was 0.45 degrees Celsius (C) below the 1991-2020 average,” said Clare Nullis, spokesperson for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Monthly average CO2 concentration at Mauna Loa observatory, world's benchmark atmospheric monitoring station, reached a new record 419.13 parts per million in May, up from 417.31 ppm in May 2020. Global averages still highAccording to data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (ECMWF), Europe’s cold May contrasted with the global average temperature for the month, which was 0.26°C higher than the 1991-2020 mean. Emissions latestReiterating how carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions continue to be a key driver of climate change, the WMO spokesperson relayed the latest data from the world's benchmark atmospheric monitoring station in Hawaii, the Mauna Loa Observatory, issued by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography on Monday evening. In a tweet on Tuesday WMO highlighted the risks to the “blue economy” which is estimated to be worth $3 to $6 trillion a year, providing livelihoods for more than six billion people.

Source: The North Africa Journal June 08, 2021 13:52 UTC