Geneva, 27 October 2015 – If humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, the average temperature of the Earth’s lower atmosphere could rise by more than 4°C (7.2°F) by the end of the 21st century. But what does a global average temperature rise really mean? How would we experience it on a daily basis? How would it affect our homes and the places we cherish?
To find out what could lie in store, and to promote awareness of the UN climate change conference in Paris, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) invited television weather presenters from around the world to imagine a “weather report from the year 2050” or to produce a report on how climate change will impact well-known UNESCO World Heritage Sites. What they created are only possible scenarios, of course, and not true forecasts. Nevertheless, they are based on the most up-to-date climate science, and they paint a compelling picture of what life could be like on a warmer planet.
These videos were produced in a variety of languages, and many feature subtitles in English, French or Spanish. They conclude with brief statements by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and other UN leaders, and they join 27 earlier contributions prepared in 2014 for the UN Climate Summit and the Lima climate conference (COP-20) and in 2015 for the UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai, Japan.
The videos are being posted at www.wmo.int/climatebroadcasts according to the schedule below:
Mon 2nd – Weather Channel, USA (the Arctic)
Tues 3rd – Chacra TV, Argentina
Wed 4th – Nova TV, Bulgaria
Thu 5th – Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA)
Fri 6th – Sky News Arabia, United Arab Emirates
Mon 9th – Kenya Meteorological Department/Kenya Broadcasting Service
Tue 10th – Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)
Wed 11th – Nippon Television Network (NTV), Japan
Thu 12th – MeteoTB, Russian Federation
Fri 13th – ABC10, USA
Mon 16th – Swiss Radio and Television (SRF)
Tue 17th – Dep. of Climate Change and Meteorological Services/Zanyengo, Malawi
Wed 18th – Univision Radio, Puerto Rico, USA
Thu 19th – Vietnam Television (VTV)
Fri 20th – The Weather Network, Canada
Sat 21th – Radio Television Ireland (RTE)
Mon 23th – MetService, New Zealand
Tue 24th – Channel 5, Belize
Wed 25th – Royal Thai Army Radio and Television Station, Thailand
Thu 26th – Česká Televize, Czech Republic
Fri 27th – Radio-Canada
Sat 28th – Meteorological Society of Italy (SMI)
For more information, please contact Michael Williams at +41 22 730 8315, +41 79 406 4730 (cell) or mwilliams(at)wmo.int
