By Blessing Chinagorom
The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres in his video message from Antarctica has cried out over the climate chao that has been awaken in the region.
Guterres on Saturday said Antarctica which has been called the sleeping giant is being awoken by climate chaos, its sea ice is at an all-time low.
Adding that new figures show that September, it was 1.5 million square kilometres smaller than the average for the time of year, an area roughly the size of Portugal, Spain, France and Germany combined.
According to him, “The Greenland ice sheet is also melting fast, losing over 250 gigatons of ice every year. All of this spells catastrophe around the world. What happens in Antarctica doesn’t stay in Antarctica.
“And what happens thousands of miles away has a direct impact right here. We live in an interconnected world. Fossil fuel pollution is heating our planet, unleashing climate anarchy in Antarctica. The Southern Ocean has taken the majority of the heat from global warming”.
UN chief explained that this means ice melting into the ocean at record rates which means sea-levels rising at record rates, could directly endangers the lives and livelihoods of people in coastal communities across the globe.
He said further that this mean homes are no longer insurable. “And it threatens the very existence of some small island states. Without changing course, we’re heading towards a calamitous three-degree Celsius temperature rise by the end of the century.
“That means losing the West Antarctica Ice Sheet almost entirely. This alone could ultimately push up sea levels by around five meters. We are trapped in a deadly cycle. Ice reflects the sun’s rays. As it vanishes, more heat is absorbed into the Earth’s atmosphere.
“That means more heating, which means more storms, floods, fires and droughts across the globe. And more melting. Which means more heating. This destruction is a direct result of our fossil fuel addiction”, Guterres said.
He called on leaders who are to gather for COP28 to Break this cycle. And act now: to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, protect people from climate chaos, and end the fossil fuel age. We must not let all hopes for a sustainable planet melt away”, UN Chief said.
