Scientists Guess 2016 will be Hottest Year in World History
Artificial global warming and a strong El Nino, World weather is bursting the annual heat record in this year, the World Meteorological Organization announced on Wednesday. Global temperatures are continuing to climb to fresh records, adding to the urgency of curbing greenhouse gas emissions that are the primary cause.
Preliminary agency figures show that for the first 10 months of 2015, average sea and land surface temperatures were 0.73 degrees above the 1961-90 average of 14 degrees.
The past five years were also the hottest on record, beating the previous five years, and showing “a continued sustained warming trend” since the mid-1970s.
“This is all bad news for the planet,” WMO secretary-general Michel Jarraud said, just days before delegates from almost 200 nations would gather in Paris to negotiate a new climate treaty to limit carbon emissions.
“We have the knowledge and the tools to act. We have a choice,” Mr Jarraud said. “Future generations will not.”
Nick Veitch