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By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

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This week, United Nations climate scientists said the world would exceed the Paris deal warming target of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and called out countries for lacking ambition in their climate policies. The prediction comes as international environmental organizations showed that July is set to upend previous heat benchmarks.

Jim Skea, head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said that the organization is “committed to at least some degree of overshoot.” Ending fossil fuels for some sectors, like aviation and freight, was not realistic, he said, adding that this meant CO2 would need to be removed from the atmosphere in future.

Speaking of fossil fuels, Michael Mann, a climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, said it was clear by mid-July that it was going to be a record warm month, and provided an “indicator of a planet that will continue to warm as long as we burn fossil fuels”.

“Climate change is here. It is terrifying. And it is just the beginning,” said U.N. Secretary-general António Guterres, adding “the era of global boiling has arrived”.

1.  World set to overshoot Paris warming target, says UN climate agency boss

The incoming head of the U.N. climate science agency said the world would exceed the Paris deal warming target of 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. This comes as the U.N. World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service also said in a joint statement it was “extremely likely” July 2023 would break the record for the world’s hottest month.

An aerial view of an umbrella set on a beach and burned land in the background, as a wildfire burns on the island of Rhodes, Greece July 27, 2023. REUTERS/Nicolas Economou

2. Effects of climate change increasing in Asia, WMO says

Extreme weather events ranging from droughts to large-scale floods and other effects of climate change are on the rise in Asia and bound to affect food security and the continent’s ecosystems, the WMO said. Just this week, a typhoon approached southeastern China after destroying Taiwan and the northern Philippines with rain and strong winds that led to the capsize of a ferry in which at least 25 people died.

3. Factbox: Europe sees another year of droughts and wildfires

Europe is battling the effects of scorching, dry weather that has triggered wildfires in many regions. Click here for a list of the most recent blazes and heat-related warnings issued in Europe.

4. Dangerous U.S. heat wave pushes eastward, capping globe’s record July

An intensifying heat wave descended on the eastern United States, prompting warnings about the dangers presented by the sweltering heat and humidity in the final days of a record-smashing July around the world. The National Weather Service said some 180 million Americans – about half the population of the United States – are under heat watches and warnings.

5. Fifty one pilot whales die after mass stranding in Australia

More than 50 pilot whales have died after stranding on a remote beach in Australia’s west, authorities said, while rescue teams tried to return the rest of the pod back to the waters. Marine experts and volunteers camped overnight at Cheynes Beach, more than 450 kilometers (280 miles) southeast of Perth in Western Australia state, after the whales were found washed up near the beach.

Ongoing drought and intense heat are threatening the way of life for these Tunisian nomads. Click on the image for the video.

German industry is finding new ways to transport cargoes from coal to chemicals as increasingly frequent low water levels on the Rhine disrupt Europe’s largest economy.

The 1,230 km (764.29 miles) river, a world famous tourist destination and a part of the national psyche, is the commercial artery for 80% of the German economy’s inland shipping of goods, including crude oil and natural gas.

But following extended periods of low water in 2018 and 2022, Rhine levels are again too low in parts of the river for cargo vessels to sail fully loaded when they can hold the equivalent of up to 150 trucks.

18.5 cm

In its ‘State of the UK climate’ report, the Met Office national weather service found that the sea level around the UK has risen around 18.5 cm since the 1900s, with 11.4cm of that happening over the past 30 years.

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