The slogan of the Washington Post seems very apt today.
In one day, the equivalent of 5 million olympic swimming pools has melted in Greenland. What we see happening today is the worst-case scenario that was predicted to happen around 2070! The sea-level is expected to rise 1.5-2mm as a result of this.
Antonio Guterres - VN-secretary-general:
This year alone, we have seen temperature records shatter from Delhi to Anchorage, from Paris to Santiago, from Adelaide into the Arctic Circle. If we do not take action on climate change now, these extreme weather events are just the tip of the iceberg. And the iceberg is also rapidly melting.
It has been extremely warm in the last month, with as a consequence enormous forest fires in Greenland, Alaska and Siberia.
Clare Nullis - World Meteorological Organisation:
In June alone these fires emitted 50 megatons of carbonmonoxide into the atmosphere. This is the equivalent of Sweden’s annual total CO2-emissions. In Alaska there have been 400 wildfires this year with new ones igniting every day. Why? One of the reasons is temperatures. The average June temperature in parts of Siberia where the worst of the wildfires are raging, was almost 10C higher in June than the 1981-2000 longterm average.
The heatwave we saw last week in Europe, with the Belgian record shattering at 41.6C, has now arrived in Greenland, where the icesheet has transformed in massive rivers of meltwater.
Antonio Guterres - VN-secretary-general:
The heatwave, which affected Europe in the last month, has now raised temperatures in the Arctic and Greenland by 10-15 C. And this is a time when Arctic sea-ice is already near record low levels. Preventing irreversable climate disruption is the race of our lives and for our lives. It is a race we can and must win.
We cannot afford to remain in darkness …