a “red alert” for the UN meteorological agency

August heat records mean“red alert”the head of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in Singapore on Wednesday, saying: “We are worried but not paralyzed”For the second year in a row, the average global temperature in August reached historic levels, according to preliminary public data from the European Copernicus Observatory, consulted by AFP on Tuesday.

Australia, Japan, several provinces of China and Svalbard, a Norwegian archipelago located in the Arctic, have had their hottest August, according to the various local meteorological organizations. For us it is a “Red alert. It is clear that temperatures are rising… beyond what we would like”said Celeste Saulo, director of the WMO, a UN agency, “and that’s because action is not enough”.

Although the exact global average temperature for August 2024 is not yet known, Copernicus (…) has established that it will be higher than the record of 16.82°C measured in August last year. “The thresholds are constantly exceeded but we must act”she stressed at a regional climate forum bringing together local meteorological services in Singapore. She acknowledged that if “We are certainly worried, we are not paralyzed. This means that we need more action”.

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The WMO chief also called for better monitoring and support for meteorological agencies, adding: “We need more resources”The forum comes days after WMO published its latest assessment of climate change impacts in Asia and the Pacific, warning of above-average sea level rise in many regions.

August 2024 thus continues a nearly unbroken 15-month streak of global average temperatures reaching historic highs, bringing heatwaves, droughts and storms compounded by additional ocean evaporation. At the forum, Singapore was designated a regional hub for monitoring pollution from wildfires and smoke. The hub, one of only two in the world, will provide better information on wildfires and pollution forecasts, filling a gap in regional data, officials said.