These days I find it difficult to believe the mainstream media, government and UN almost as much as I disregard the insouciant deniers of reality. The real situation is much worse than anyone is letting on.
The World Meteorological Organisation said Tuesday that preliminary temperature data show the years from 2015 to 2019 and from 2010 to 2019 "are, respectively, almost certain to be the warmest five-year period and decade on record".
In a report released on the sidelines of this year's UN climate change conference in Madrid, the agency said this continues the trend that "since the 1980s, each successive decade has been warmer than the last."
While full-year temperature measurements won't be available for several more months, the agency also said that 2019 is expected to be the second or third warmest year on record.
This year was hotter than average in most parts of the world, including the Arctic. "In contrast a large area of North America has been colder than the recent average," the UN said.
The report, which brings together data from numerous national weather agencies and research organisations, also highlighted the impacts of climate change including declining sea ice and rising sea levels, which reached their highest level this year since high-precision measurements began in 1993.
Dr Thomas Mortlock of Macquarie University in Australia said it suggested some of climate change's effects had become "baked in".
"While it remains difficult to attribute extreme weather events - like the recent bushfires - to climate change, climate attribution studies now indicate that it is highly likely that the increase in the mean global temperature over the past several decades could not have occurred without anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions," he said.
"The recent WMO report is significant in that it shows global CO2 levels have risen to the highest point since modern records began approximately 200 years ago.
"Indeed, records of isotopes trapped in Antarctic ice suggest atmospheric CO2 has oscillated between 170 and 300 ppm (parts per million) between glacial and interglacial cycles over the past 800,000 years - we are now well outside this natural envelope of variability at over 400 ppm."As a result, some of the impacts of climate change are 'baked in' for the next several decades regardless of mitigation. We can still determine the level of warming we experience beyond 2050, however, by decisions made today.
Associate Professor Pete Strutton from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes said "governments and individuals need to act swiftly" to mitigate climate change.
"This report from the WMO shows that 2019 temperatures so far are 1.1°C above pre-industrial. The report details a long and serious list of consequences of this climate change so far, including land and ocean heat waves, drought, fires, ocean acidification, human displacement due to natural disasters, increasing malnutrition and decreased food security," Strutton said. "While the consequences of this 1.1°C increase are already very serious, the report emphasises that we are way behind what needs to be done to limit warming to 3°C.
"In fact, we have passed the point where emissions reduction alone will mitigate climate change. There is no way for Earth to stay below 3°C without large scale emissions capture and storage, in addition to massive emissions reduction."
As the report was released, climate activist Greta Thunberg arrived by catamaran in the port of Lisbon after a three-week voyage across the Atlantic Ocean from the United States.
The Swedish teen sailed to the Portuguese capital before heading to neighbouring Spain to attend the UN Climate Change Conference taking place in Madrid.
Thunberg hitched a renewable-energy ride from the United States, joining an Australian family on their 15-metre yacht.
Chile's Environment Minister Carolina Schmidt, saluted Thunberg's role speaking out about the threat of climate change.
"She has been a leader that has been able to move and open hearts for many young people and many people all over the world," Schmidt said at the summit in Madrid. "We need that tremendous force in order to increase climate action," she said.
Current decade heading for
new temperature record, UN
says
Stuff.con.nz,
4 December, 2019
The UN's weather agency says that the current decade is likely to set a new 10-year temperature record, adding further evidence that the world is getting hotter.
The World Meteorological Organisation said Tuesday that preliminary temperature data show the years from 2015 to 2019 and from 2010 to 2019 "are, respectively, almost certain to be the warmest five-year period and decade on record".
In a report released on the sidelines of this year's UN climate change conference in Madrid, the agency said this continues the trend that "since the 1980s, each successive decade has been warmer than the last."
While full-year temperature measurements won't be available for several more months, the agency also said that 2019 is expected to be the second or third warmest year on record.
This year was hotter than average in most parts of the world, including the Arctic. "In contrast a large area of North America has been colder than the recent average," the UN said.
The report, which brings together data from numerous national weather agencies and research organisations, also highlighted the impacts of climate change including declining sea ice and rising sea levels, which reached their highest level this year since high-precision measurements began in 1993.
Dr Thomas Mortlock of Macquarie University in Australia said it suggested some of climate change's effects had become "baked in".
"While it remains difficult to attribute extreme weather events - like the recent bushfires - to climate change, climate attribution studies now indicate that it is highly likely that the increase in the mean global temperature over the past several decades could not have occurred without anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions," he said.
"The recent WMO report is significant in that it shows global CO2 levels have risen to the highest point since modern records began approximately 200 years ago.
"Indeed, records of isotopes trapped in Antarctic ice suggest atmospheric CO2 has oscillated between 170 and 300 ppm (parts per million) between glacial and interglacial cycles over the past 800,000 years - we are now well outside this natural envelope of variability at over 400 ppm."As a result, some of the impacts of climate change are 'baked in' for the next several decades regardless of mitigation. We can still determine the level of warming we experience beyond 2050, however, by decisions made today.
Associate Professor Pete Strutton from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes said "governments and individuals need to act swiftly" to mitigate climate change.
"This report from the WMO shows that 2019 temperatures so far are 1.1°C above pre-industrial. The report details a long and serious list of consequences of this climate change so far, including land and ocean heat waves, drought, fires, ocean acidification, human displacement due to natural disasters, increasing malnutrition and decreased food security," Strutton said. "While the consequences of this 1.1°C increase are already very serious, the report emphasises that we are way behind what needs to be done to limit warming to 3°C.
"In fact, we have passed the point where emissions reduction alone will mitigate climate change. There is no way for Earth to stay below 3°C without large scale emissions capture and storage, in addition to massive emissions reduction."
As the report was released, climate activist Greta Thunberg arrived by catamaran in the port of Lisbon after a three-week voyage across the Atlantic Ocean from the United States.
The Swedish teen sailed to the Portuguese capital before heading to neighbouring Spain to attend the UN Climate Change Conference taking place in Madrid.
Thunberg hitched a renewable-energy ride from the United States, joining an Australian family on their 15-metre yacht.
Chile's Environment Minister Carolina Schmidt, saluted Thunberg's role speaking out about the threat of climate change.
"She has been a leader that has been able to move and open hearts for many young people and many people all over the world," Schmidt said at the summit in Madrid. "We need that tremendous force in order to increase climate action," she said.
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