MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
2020 on course to be one of the three warmest years ever recorded
“2020 has, unfortunately, been yet another extraordinary year for our climate,” said WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas. This year is on course to be one of the three warmest ever recorded and could even top the record set in 2016, the United Nations said on Wednesday. The past six years, 2015 to 2020, are therefore set to make up all six of the hottest years since modern records began in 1850, the UN's World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said in its provisional 2020 State of the Global Climate report.
“2020 has, unfortunately, been yet another extraordinary year for our climate,” said WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas.
The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change calls for capping global warming at well below 2 deg C above the pre-industrial (1850-1900) level, while countries will pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 deg C.
“The average global temperature in 2020 is set to be about 1.2 deg C above the pre-industrial level,” said Prof Taalas. “There is at least a one in five chance of it temporarily exceeding 1.5 deg C by 2024.”
The WMO said 2020 seemed on course to be the second-hottest year ever - but the difference between the top three is small and the picture could change once this year's data sets are complete.
The years from 2015 to 2020 are therefore individually “likely to be the six warmest on record,” the report said. Temperature averages across the last five years, and across the last 10 year period, ”are also the warmest on record,” it added.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the 2020 report spells out “how close we are to climate catastrophe.” ”Apocalyptic fires and floods, cyclones and hurricanes are increasingly the new normal,“ he said in a speech at Columbia University in New York.
”Humanity is waging war on nature. This is suicidal. Nature always strikes back - and it is already doing so with growing force and fury.“
Prof Taalas said that 2020 saw ”new extreme temperatures on land, sea and especially in the Arctic. Wildfires consumed vast areas in Australia, Siberia, the US West Coast and South America.”
Top Comments
Disclaimer & comment rules-
-
-
Read all commentsCorrect Chicureo totally agree its all propaganda
Dec 04th, 2020 - 01:23 am +2This climate change propaganda hysteria has been going on for decades. The lone polar bear on a melting iceberg is a visual symbol to reinforce their ridiculous allegations.
Dec 03rd, 2020 - 02:04 pm 0Fact: Polar bears have INCREASED in population during the past 3 decades!
Fact: The continuous climatic change we experience is a part of our environment.
Fact: The wild claims that we are facing catastrophe have been a part of selling newspapers for over a century.
If you may remember: we were reliably told in the 1990s that the entire northern ice mass would be completely melted by 2016!
My livelihood depends on on weather and I'm not the least worried about the wild claims of the politically correct naysayers.
The monstrous ecological damage due to pollution is due primarily to China and India — with volcanic vents in the Pacific releasing the largest amount of carbon to our atmosphere.
(And no, I don't wear a tin foil hat — but the gullible public that believes all the hysteria should.)
UN reports:
Dec 05th, 2020 - 10:32 am 0https://www.un.org/en/sections/issues-depth/climate-change/
“Climate Change is the defining issue of our time and we are at a defining moment. From shifting weather patterns that threaten food production, to rising sea levels that increase the risk of catastrophic flooding, the impacts of climate change are global in scope and unprecedented in scale.”
Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!