11 CHAPTER 2 CLIMATE SCIENCE – “OUR CLIMATE IS OUR FUTURE” Climate change is already affecting every inhabited region across the globe because of human activities. The Opening Plenary of CARE2022 on Day1 focussed on the latest climate science at the global and regional/local levels. Climate Science Plenary Prof. Petteri TAALAS Secretary General, WMO Prof. Panmao ZHAI Co-chair, IPCC Working Group I on The Physical Science Basis Dr. Cho Ming CHENG, JP Director, HKO https://care.hkust.edu.hk/Video_Ch2 WATCH VIDEO Petteri Taalas, WMO Climate science - global Prof. Petteri Taalas, Secretary General of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and Prof. Panmao Zhai, Co-chair of IPCC Working Group I on The Physical Science Basis, provided summarizes of the IPCC AR6 reports, which called for the rapid transformation of societies as the world was falling short of the climate goals set in the Paris Agreement. Their key messages were directly relevant to Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area (GBA): • The World Economic Forum in June 2022 considered climate action failures and extreme weather to be the top two biggest risks for the global economy for the coming 10 years. • There has already been 1.09°C warming (2011-2020) since pre-industrial times (1850-1900) and that 2017-2021 were the warmest years on earth. Ocean temperatures has also been rising.
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