Red alert on pace of climate change

Stark report at COP29 summit

- NADA FARHOUD

A RED alert has been issued by meteorologists who say the pace of climate change has been turbo-charged in the last decade.

They say ever-increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have accelerated ocean heating, loss of glacial ice and rises in sea level.

The World Meteorological Organisation's stark report came on day one of the UN Climate Change Conference, COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan.

It said 2015-2024 is due to be the warmest decade on record, with extreme weather, like Spain's recent floods and America's hurricanes, wreaking havoc on communities and economies across the world.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said: "Climate catastrophe is hammering health, widening inequalities, harming sustainable development and rocking the foundations of peace.