Quantcast
Environmental News for a Healthier Planet and Life

Last 5 Years Hottest on Record, Human Footprint 'Increasingly Visible'

Climate
Last 5 Years Hottest on Record, Human Footprint 'Increasingly Visible'

There is growing evidence that man-made climate change is contributing to individual extreme weather and climate events, according to the latest analysis by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Global five-year average temperature anomalies (relative to 1961–1990) for 2011– 2015. World Meteorological Organization

The report, released at COP22 in Marrakech, finds that greenhouse gas emissions raise the probability of extreme heat events as much as 10 times or more. The report also noted that 2011-2015 was the hottest five-year period on record with 2016 on track to become the hottest year on record.

Among the worst extremes, a 2011-12 drought and famine in the Horn of Africa killed more than 250,000 people and Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines killed 7,800 in 2013, the WMO said.

"The Paris agreement aims at limiting the global temperature increase to well below 2 degrees Celsius and pursuing efforts towards 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels," said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas in a press release.

"The effects of climate change have been consistently visible on the global scale since the 1980s: rising global temperature, both over land and in the ocean; sea-level rise; and the widespread melting of ice," Taalas said. "It has increased the risks of extreme events such as heatwaves, drought, record rainfall and damaging floods."

For a deeper dive:

AP, Reuters, Politico Pro, Mashable, Huffington Post, BusinessGreen

For more climate change and clean energy news, you can follow Climate Nexus on Twitter and Facebook, and sign up for daily Hot News.

Gina McCarthy, EPA administrator in the Obama administration, speaks during the Climate Action 2016 Summit on May 6, 2016 in Washington, DC, two weeks after the signing ceremony of the Paris agreement. Mark Wilson / Getty Images

President-elect Joe Biden is currently considering the former head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under former President Barack Obama to be the domestic "climate czar," Reuters reported.

Read More Show Less

EcoWatch Daily Newsletter

A beaked whale believed to be a new species. Sea Shepherd / CONANP

By Elizabeth Claire Alberts

When a trio of beaked whales surfaced off Mexico's Pacific coast, researchers thought they'd found the elusive Perrin's beaked whale (Mesoplodon perrini), an endangered species that's never been officially sighted alive. But upon closer inspection, the researchers realized they may have stumbled upon something even rarer — a new species of beaked whale altogether.

Read More Show Less

Trending

The coal-fired Belchatow Power Station is seen on November 29, 2018 in Rogowiec, Poland. Sean Gallup / Getty Images

European Union leaders reached an eleventh-hour agreement Friday to reduce the bloc's collective greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent of 1990 levels by 2030.

Read More Show Less
Shasta dam and lake near Redding, California. Kelly M. Grow / California Department of Water Resources

By Tara Lohan

In the aftermath of the Nov. 3 election, President Donald Trump has tried every trick in the book to avoid facing the reality of his loss. A barrage of lawsuits accompanied by disinformation campaigns has attempted to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the election.

Read More Show Less
A new study finds microplastic particles exposed to freshwater or saltwater environments are more likely to be taken up into an animal's cells. Tunatura / Getty Images

By Kasra Zarei

Microplastic particles exposed to freshwater or saltwater environments are more likely than original, non-exposed particles to be taken up into an animal's cells, according to new research.

Read More Show Less