Provisional data suggests 2017 is set to be one of the hottest three years on record, confirming the trend that, according to scientists, is caused by human actions. Hence, global warming did not pause, as some climate skeptics claimed.
Petteri Taalas, secretary general of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said: “The past three years have all been in the top three years in terms of temperature records. This is part of a long term warming trend. We have witnessed extraordinary weather, including temperatures topping 50C in Asia, record-breaking hurricanes in rapid succession in the Caribbean and Atlantic reaching as far as Ireland, devastating monsoon flooding affecting many millions of people and a relentless drought in East Africa.”
The research was revealed to delegates at the UN’s global climate talks being held in Bonn, Germany. The COP23 talks will try to establish a new process to oblige states to cut greenhouse gas emissions, in line with scientific advice.
Current pledges would, according to estimates, leave the world 3C warmer than in pre-industrial times and would not be sustainable.
Martin Siegert, co-director of the Grantham Institute at Imperial College, London, is very concerned: “What were once one-in-a-hundred-year events are now turning into regular events.”