Noughties on track to become hottest on record, says WMO
Source: Agencies |
December 9, 2009, Wednesday
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THIS decade is on track to become the warmest since records began in 1850, and 2009 could rank among the top-five warmest years, the United Nations weather agency reported yesterday on the second day of a pivotal 192-nation climate conference.
In some areas - central Africa and southern Asia - this will probably be the warmest year, but overall 2009 will "be about the fifth-warmest year on record," said Michel Jarraud, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Only the United States and Canada experienced cooler conditions than average, it said, although Alaska had the second-warmest July on record.
The UN agency noted an extreme heatwave in India in May and a heatwave in northern China in June. It said parts of China experienced their warmest year on record, and that Australia so far has had its third-warmest year. Extremely hot weather was also more frequent and intense in southern South America.
The data were released as negotiators at the two-week talks in Copenhagen worked yesterday to craft a global deal to step up efforts to stem climate change.
Scientists say without an agreement to wean the world away from fossil fuels and other pollutants to greener sources of energy, the Earth will face the consequences of ever-rising temperatures: The extinction of plant and animals, the flooding of coastal cities, more extreme weather, more drought and the spread of diseases.
If 2009 ends as the fifth-warmest year, it would replace the year 2003. According to the US space agency NASA, the other warmest years since 1850 have been 2005, 1998, 2007 and 2006. NASA says the differences in readings among these years are so small as to be statistically insignificant.
The UN climate agency said the global combined sea and land surface temperatures for January-October 2009 was estimated at 0.44 degrees Celsius above the 1961-1990 annual average of 14 degrees.
On Monday, when the climate conference opened, the Obama administration gave the talks a boost by announcing steps that could lead to new US emissions controls that don't require US Congress approval.
The European Union welcomed the US move. The EU has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020, compared with 1990, and is considering raising that to 30 percent if other governments also aim high.
The EU had called for a stronger bid by the Americans, who thus far have pledged emissions cuts of 17 percent reduction in emissions from their 2005 level - comparable to a 3-4 percent cut from 1990 levels.
In some areas - central Africa and southern Asia - this will probably be the warmest year, but overall 2009 will "be about the fifth-warmest year on record," said Michel Jarraud, secretary-general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
Only the United States and Canada experienced cooler conditions than average, it said, although Alaska had the second-warmest July on record.
The UN agency noted an extreme heatwave in India in May and a heatwave in northern China in June. It said parts of China experienced their warmest year on record, and that Australia so far has had its third-warmest year. Extremely hot weather was also more frequent and intense in southern South America.
The data were released as negotiators at the two-week talks in Copenhagen worked yesterday to craft a global deal to step up efforts to stem climate change.
Scientists say without an agreement to wean the world away from fossil fuels and other pollutants to greener sources of energy, the Earth will face the consequences of ever-rising temperatures: The extinction of plant and animals, the flooding of coastal cities, more extreme weather, more drought and the spread of diseases.
If 2009 ends as the fifth-warmest year, it would replace the year 2003. According to the US space agency NASA, the other warmest years since 1850 have been 2005, 1998, 2007 and 2006. NASA says the differences in readings among these years are so small as to be statistically insignificant.
The UN climate agency said the global combined sea and land surface temperatures for January-October 2009 was estimated at 0.44 degrees Celsius above the 1961-1990 annual average of 14 degrees.
On Monday, when the climate conference opened, the Obama administration gave the talks a boost by announcing steps that could lead to new US emissions controls that don't require US Congress approval.
The European Union welcomed the US move. The EU has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent by 2020, compared with 1990, and is considering raising that to 30 percent if other governments also aim high.
The EU had called for a stronger bid by the Americans, who thus far have pledged emissions cuts of 17 percent reduction in emissions from their 2005 level - comparable to a 3-4 percent cut from 1990 levels.
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