Related News
UN warns of more extreme weather
Source: Agencies |
November 30, 2011, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE world is getting hotter, with 2011 one of the warmest years on record, and increasing temperatures are expected to amplify floods, droughts and other extreme weather patterns around the planet, a United Nations report said yesterday.
The World Meteorological Organization, part of the UN, said the warmest 13 years of average global temperatures have all occurred in the 15 years since 1997.
That has contributed to extreme weather conditions that increase the intensity of droughts and heavy precipitation across the world, it said.
"Our science is solid and it proves unequivocally that the world is warming and that this warming is due to human activities," WMO Deputy Secretary-General Jerry Lengoasa told reporters in Durban.
This year, the global climate was influenced heavily by the strong La Nina - a phenomenon usually linked to extreme weather in Asia-Pacific, South America and Africa, but which developed unexpectedly in the tropical Pacific in the second half of 2010. One of the strongest such events in 60 years, it was closely associated with the drought in east Africa, islands in the central equatorial Pacific and the United States, as well as severe flooding in other parts of the world.
The report was released to coincide with the start of UN climate talks this week in the South African coastal city of Durban aimed at reaching cuts in gas emissions to head off what scientists see as a global ecological disaster caused by climate change. The report said the buildup of greenhouse gases has depleted sea ice caps and put the world at a tipping point of irreversible changes in ecosystems caused by global warming.
"Concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have reached new highs," WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said separately in a statement. "They are very rapidly approaching levels consistent with a 2-2.4 degree Celsius rise in average global temperatures which scientists believe could trigger far reaching and irreversible changes in our Earth, biosphere and oceans."
Russia experienced the largest variation from average, with the northern parts of the country seeing January to October temperatures about 4 degrees higher in several places, it said.
UN scientists said in a separate report this month an increase in heat waves is almost certain, while heavier rainfall, more floods, stronger cyclones, landslides and more intense droughts are likely across the globe this century as the Earth's climate warms.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said global average temperatures could rise by 3-6 degrees Celsius by the end of the century if governments failed to contain emissions, bringing unprecedented destruction as glaciers melt and sea levels rise and small island states are erased from existence.
The World Meteorological Organization, part of the UN, said the warmest 13 years of average global temperatures have all occurred in the 15 years since 1997.
That has contributed to extreme weather conditions that increase the intensity of droughts and heavy precipitation across the world, it said.
"Our science is solid and it proves unequivocally that the world is warming and that this warming is due to human activities," WMO Deputy Secretary-General Jerry Lengoasa told reporters in Durban.
This year, the global climate was influenced heavily by the strong La Nina - a phenomenon usually linked to extreme weather in Asia-Pacific, South America and Africa, but which developed unexpectedly in the tropical Pacific in the second half of 2010. One of the strongest such events in 60 years, it was closely associated with the drought in east Africa, islands in the central equatorial Pacific and the United States, as well as severe flooding in other parts of the world.
The report was released to coincide with the start of UN climate talks this week in the South African coastal city of Durban aimed at reaching cuts in gas emissions to head off what scientists see as a global ecological disaster caused by climate change. The report said the buildup of greenhouse gases has depleted sea ice caps and put the world at a tipping point of irreversible changes in ecosystems caused by global warming.
"Concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have reached new highs," WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said separately in a statement. "They are very rapidly approaching levels consistent with a 2-2.4 degree Celsius rise in average global temperatures which scientists believe could trigger far reaching and irreversible changes in our Earth, biosphere and oceans."
Russia experienced the largest variation from average, with the northern parts of the country seeing January to October temperatures about 4 degrees higher in several places, it said.
UN scientists said in a separate report this month an increase in heat waves is almost certain, while heavier rainfall, more floods, stronger cyclones, landslides and more intense droughts are likely across the globe this century as the Earth's climate warms.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said global average temperatures could rise by 3-6 degrees Celsius by the end of the century if governments failed to contain emissions, bringing unprecedented destruction as glaciers melt and sea levels rise and small island states are erased from existence.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
