UN sounds alarm: What’s the biggest challenge ahead for us?

Celeste Saulo, the Secretary General of the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO), stated that the climate crisis has become the greatest challenge facing humanity today. 

In an interview with Russian media, she emphasized the urgent need for increased funding to address the vast scale of climate-related issues, Caliber.Az reports.

“We are witnessing growing international commitment to tackling climate change, not only from governments, but also increasingly from the corporate sector, businesses, and civil society,” Saulo said. However, she also highlighted the need for more financial resources to combat the climate crisis effectively.

She acknowledged the significant rise in climate financing, noting the decision at the 29th Climate Change Conference in Baku to triple funding to $300 billion annually by 2035. Despite this progress, Saulo stressed that even more funds are necessary to address the ongoing climate challenges.

Meanwhile, a group of international scientists, led by researchers from Oregon State University, have confirmed that the climate crisis continues to escalate. Their findings, based on the latest measurements of Earth’s "planetary vital signs," reveal that out of 35 key parameters used to track climate change, 25 reached record highs in 2024.

One particularly notable finding is that the ozone layer in the Arctic reached unprecedented levels. According to the researchers, in March 2024, the concentration of stratospheric ozone over the North Pole reached its highest levels since the 1970s. The average ozone value for March peaked at 477 Dobson units (DU), 6 DU above the previous record in March 1979, and 60 DU above the long-term average from 1979 to 2023. Daily records were observed for almost half of the month, with a maximum of 499 DU recorded on March 20.

These elevated ozone levels persisted through September, and scientists linked this recovery to climate change processes. Increased heat fluxes from the winter eddy in the atmosphere slowed the polar vortex, allowing more ozone-rich air from mid-latitudes to reach the Arctic. Given projections of rising carbon dioxide emissions in the coming years, the scientists believe that this influx of ozone to the North Pole is likely to continue.

By Tamilla Hasanova