Things aren't going well for our planet! - and they don't look like getting better any time soon, unless these talking-heads at the upcoming Climate Conference in Paris do something positive beyond mouthing platitudes.
"Global temperatures are continuing to climb to fresh records, adding to the urgency of curbing greenhouse gas emissions that are the primary cause, the World Meteorological Organisation says.
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. They were about 1 degree warmer than the 1850-1899 period used as a proxy for the pre-industrial era.
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. (See chart below.)
The planet is racing towards another global heat record.
"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."
The abnormal warmth this year is particularly evident in the world's oceans, such as the equatorial Pacific – where a monster El Nino event is under way – and the Indian Ocean."
On a related topic, see this piece "Extreme Weather Tied to Over 600,000 Deaths Over 2 Decades" in The New York Times.
"Global temperatures are continuing to climb to fresh records, adding to the urgency of curbing greenhouse gas emissions that are the primary cause, the World Meteorological Organisation says.
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. They were about 1 degree warmer than the 1850-1899 period used as a proxy for the pre-industrial era.
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. (See chart below.)
The planet is racing towards another global heat record.
"We have the knowledge and the tools to act. We have a choice," Mr Jarraud said. "Future generations will not."
The abnormal warmth this year is particularly evident in the world's oceans, such as the equatorial Pacific – where a monster El Nino event is under way – and the Indian Ocean."
On a related topic, see this piece "Extreme Weather Tied to Over 600,000 Deaths Over 2 Decades" in The New York Times.
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