Many countries have just endured the "hottest April", agriculture and energy industry is tired of dealing with the impact of high temperatures ...... As extreme weather such as high temperatures recently deepened the threat to global economic activity, industry insiders called for greater international collaboration to avoid a global crisis. Global politicians are gathering in Geneva to discuss measures to deal with climate extremes.


  Extreme climate damage widens


  At the 19th World Meteorological Congress (WMC), which opened in Geneva on the 22nd, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported 11,778 disasters caused by extreme weather, climate and water-related events reported around the world between 1970 and 2021, resulting in more than 2 million deaths and economic losses of $4.3 trillion.


  During this period, more than 60 percent of the total global economic losses from weather, climate and water-related disasters are reported by developed economies, with the United States alone accounting for $1.7 trillion, or 39 percent of global economic losses from weather-related disasters over 51 years. Least developed countries and small island developing states have suffered disproportionately high economic losses relative to the size of their economies.

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  The World Meteorological Organization's recently released Global Climate Status Report 2022 states that climate change will continue in 2022 from the peaks of mountains to the depths of the oceans. Droughts, floods and heat waves have affected every continent, causing billions of dollars in damage. Despite the cooling effects of La Niña events over the past three years, 2015 to 2022 remains the warmest eight years on record, with glacial melt and sea level rise reaching record levels again in 2022, and the trend is set to continue.


  Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise and the climate continues to change, while people around the world continue to suffer severely from extreme weather and climate events, according to WMO Secretary-General Petri Taras. 2022 saw persistent drought in East Africa, record-breaking rainfall in Pakistan and a record-breaking heat wave in Europe affecting tens of millions of people, leading to increased food security challenges and causing billions of dollars in damages.


  High temperatures continue to threaten economic activity


  Climate scientists are now widely predicting that El Niño will return in 2023, bringing with it hot, dry, fire-prone conditions. And economic activity in Asia and the Americas is already being hit by high temperatures.


  Meteorologists warn that temperatures will break records across Asia this year. Last month was "the hottest April in Asia," said Wang Jingyu, a climate scholar at the National Institute of Education at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He attributed the high temperatures to the upcoming El Niño phenomenon, which means less rainfall and warmer temperatures. The United Nations World Meteorological Organization has also predicted that there is an 80 percent chance that this climate phenomenon will occur in October this year, with a 60 percent chance of occurring as early as July.


  Heat warnings have been issued for several areas in Asia where temperatures have recently exceeded 40 degrees Celsius. The highest temperature in Luang Prabang, Laos reached 42.7 degrees Celsius, Myanmar climbed to about 45 degrees Celsius, the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka, the road melted in the heat, some local governments in India closed schools because of the heat. in April, the temperature in some parts of Thailand reached 50 degrees Celsius.


  Horton, a climate expert at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University, said the intense heat wave cannot be explained by El Niño alone, "other factors are also having an impact. The Earth is warming and there is significantly more moisture in the atmosphere." He noted that human activities are contributing to the climate crisis by releasing more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, causing the planet to warm. Last year, global greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise and temperatures were at least 1.1 degrees Celsius higher than before industrialization. Horton said the record-breaking heat "has disrupted crop production, caused social hardship and led to peak energy consumption.


  In North and South America, hot weather-induced disasters are also affecting the energy industry and agriculture. Alberta, the world's fourth-largest crude oil producer, which produces about 80 percent of Canada's oil, has seen a number of mountain fires burn this month, causing some energy companies to suspend operations and reducing Canadian natural gas exports to the United States, pushing up U.S. natural gas futures prices. The fires also forced Alberta to cut production by an average of at least 319,000 barrels of oil per day, or 3.7 percent of Canada's total production.


  Western Canada was originally hit by a cold spring, but the recent rapid onset of unseasonably high temperatures, with some areas averaging 10 to 15 degrees Celsius warmer than earlier this month, has created conditions for wildfires to occur.


  The Wall Street Journal article points out that although El Niño has not yet appeared, once this climate phenomenon shows its power, it will bring severe drought or heavy rainfall, disrupting world food output and causing shocks to commodity prices. Sugar producers in Brazil, grain growers in the United States and international traders are preparing for El Niño.


  Historically, global non-fuel commodity prices have risen by about 5.3 percent cumulatively in the year following the start of an El Niño pattern, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Drought in parts of Asia could curb output of Indian sugar, Malaysian palm oil and Australian wheat as sea surface water temperatures rise in the eastern Pacific and La Niña turns into El Niño. In South America, wetter weather could favor farms or trigger flooding and disrupt the harvest season.


  Countries step up response to disaster potential


  Many countries have begun to take measures to deal with the high temperature may trigger a variety of disasters, industry experts also called for further strengthening of international cooperation.

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  Asian countries are actively addressing concerns about water shortages in the coming months. The Philippine government has stressed the importance of avoiding a potential water crisis brought about by the El Niño phenomenon. Thailand recently issued a warning urging the public to conserve water, and the country's National Water Resources Office is preparing for a drought. Meanwhile, the Malaysian Air Force has been working with the country's meteorological department to implement artificial rainfall over Penang to replenish water supplies from the island's dried-up dams. The Indonesian government issued a warning in February, cautioning farmers and plantation companies to be on the lookout for fires as Sumatra and Kalimantan face El Niño. The effects of El Niño may be exacerbated by the actions of irresponsible companies or people who burn the land indiscriminately," said Krishnayati of the Indonesian Farmers Association. Farmers must have the wisdom to survive such difficult times."


  In recent weeks, companies from Peru to Singapore have said they are preparing for the potential negative or beneficial effects of hot weather by taking specific steps such as building new drainage infrastructure on farms or having teams of analysts monitor food supply and demand. Some speculators are betting on a strong El Niño, which has led to increased price volatility for crops used for human food, livestock feed and fuel around the globe.


  A high-level dialogue will be held during the conference to discuss accelerating and expanding action to ensure that weather warning services reach everyone on the planet by the end of 2027 to counter increasingly extreme and dangerous weather and climate change, according to a World Meteorological Congress communiqué. The conference will also endorse the World Meteorological Organization's Strategic Plan 2024-2027 to achieve the goal of all countries being better able to respond to extreme weather and extreme environmental events by 2030.


  The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a report in April warning that climate change will exacerbate extreme weather events. It calls on countries to take deep, rapid and sustained action to reduce emissions and slow the pace of climate change.