Note4Students
Mains Paper 3: Environment| Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:
Prelims level: State of Climate Report
Mains level: Oceanic warming
News
- Ocean heat hit a record high in 2018, the United Nations has said.
State of the Climate Report
- In its latest State of the Climate overview, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reaffirmed that the last four years had been the hottest on record.
- 2018 saw new records for ocean heat content in the upper 700 metres.
- The UN had data for heat content in the upper 700 metres of the ocean dating back to 1955.
- About 93 percent of excess heat — trapped around the Earth by greenhouse gases that come from the burning of fossil fuels – accumulates in the world’s oceans.
- It proves what we have been saying that climate change is moving faster than our efforts to address it.
About World Meteorological Organization
- The WMO is an intergovernmental organization with a membership of 192 Member States and Territories.
- It originated from the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), the roots of which were planted at the 1873 Vienna International Meteorological Congress.
- Established by the ratification of the WMO Convention on 23 March 1950, WMO became the specialised agency of the United Nations for meteorology.
- The Secretariat, headquartered in Geneva, is headed by the Secretary-General.