UN Secretary General says that the era of global warming has been replaced by that of “global boiling.”
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has left the term “global warming” by the wayside, telling reporters that “the era of global boiling has arrived” for Planet Earth.
The July 27 comments came after the European Union’s Copernicus program for earth observation stated that the first three weeks of July were “the warmest three-week period on record.”
The World Meteorological Association, an agency within the U.N., also
drew attention to the Copernicus ERA5 data.
Copernicus also predicts this July will shatter a previous mark for the hottest July since the start of modern record-keeping, which was set in 2019. The comments also came days after a buoy in Manatee Bay, Florida, gave a preliminary temperature reading of over 101 degrees Fahrenheit and a possible world record.
Other buoys in the vicinity recorded temperatures in the upper 90s.
The shallowness of the site and previous recordings that exceeded the recent mark have raised questions about the temperature.
In addition, geological evidence indicates that temperatures were far higher at various times during Earth’s distant past.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that marine heat waves are being experienced across much of the world ocean, including around southern Florida and in the North Atlantic near the United Kingdom. Copernicus’s new report attributes much of the unusually hot weather in July to elevated sea surface temperatures.
“For scientists, it is unequivocal. Humans are to blame,” Mr. Guterres told reporters on Thursday.
While many scientists believe human activity is driving global warming, not all scientists agree on the existence and severity of man-made climate change, let alone the appropriate course of action for policymakers.
A 2022 statement signed by more than 1,100 scientists and professionals declared that “there is no climate emergency.” “Climate change is here, it is terrifying, and it is just the beginning,” Mr. Guterres said during the press conference.
The comments sparked both support and backlash from observers on social media.
“Enough delaying. Enough half-measures. Enough with concessions to fossil fuel interests. Leaders need to lead NOW on climate,” former Canadian environment and climate change minister Catherine McKenna wrote on X, the site formerly known as Twitter. “Wow, ‘global boiling’ is even more alarming than ‘code red.’ I wonder who comes up with this stuff for Guterres,” climate scientist Judith Curry wrote on the same site.Comes Amid UN Climate Meetings
A
press release associated with the secretary-general’s comments called for “climate action now,” highlighting upcoming climate-related U.N. meetings.
They include the next U.N. climate change conference, set to take place in Dubai in late November and early December.
Mr. Guterres called for members of the Group of 20 (G20) to do more on climate.
That’s in line with a
joint statement from Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the president of the Dubai summit, Sultan al-Jaber, following a G20 climate meeting in Chennai, India, that saw
conflict over the proposed phase-down of fossil fuels.
“Together, we must take necessary steps to accelerate our inevitable decarbonization in a responsible manner while enabling energy access for all, promoting sustainable development, and supporting just transition. Tripling global renewable energy capacity and doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvements across sectors by 2030, including ramping up electrification and enhanced cooling approaches, is critical to enable this,” the joint statement reads in part.
Mr. Guterres, a member of the Portuguese Socialist Party who formerly served as his nation’s prime minister, reiterated his calls for the rapid elimination of coal.
In January 2022, Mr. Guterres
said at a meeting of the World Economic Forum that “no new coal plants should be built.”
In March of that year, soon after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent shockwaves through global energy markets, he
declared that “those in the private sector still financing coal must be held to account,” calling coal “a stupid investment.”
A previous version of this article inaccurately represented the boiling point of water. The Epoch Times regrets this error.
