Global warming and El Nino set to make 2015 the hottest year on record, WMO says
By national environment and science reporter Jake Sturmer
Updated about 8 hours ago PHOTO: A brilliant red sunset among clouds over Adelaide.(ABC: Ching-Ling Lim) RELATED STORY: Climate Council chief optimistic of global deal at Paris talks RELATED STORY: Adelaide records hottest October in 175 years RELATED STORY: July world's warmest month, 2015 hottest year on record MAP: Australia
This year is set to be the hottest on record, due to a strong El Nino season and global warming, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) says.
The WMO said temperatures have now risen 1 degree Celsius since the industrial revolution, with 2C considered the limit to avoid dangerous climate change.
"The state of the global climate in 2015 will make history as for a number of reasons," WMO secretary-general Michel Jarraud said.
"Greenhouse gas emissions, which are causing climate change, can be controlled. We have the knowledge and the tools to act."
The UN agency's provisional statement on the status of the climate also declared the five-year period between 2011 and 2015 the hottest on record.
"Levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached new highs and in the Northern hemisphere spring 2015 the three-month global average concentration of CO2 crossed the 400 parts per million barrier for the first time," Mr Jarraud said.
"We have a choice — future generations do not."
Australia has had its fair share of climate records broken this year too — recently the Bureau of Meteorology declared October to be the hottest ever recorded. PHOTO: 2015's temperature changes in Celsius compared to 1961 to 1990.(WMO/Met Office Hadley Centre)
A strong El Nino event is also pushing up temperatures.
"The overall warming impact of this El Nino is expected to continue into 2016," Mr Jarraud said.
The WMO usually waits to have a full year's worth of data before drawing conclusions but said it wanted to give negotiators the most up to date information before discussions begin at the UN's Paris Climate Summit next week.
More than 145 world leaders are set to gather in Paris from Monday for a conference seeking to cap average global warming at two degrees Celsius above mid-19th Century levels.
The global average surface temperature from January to October shows the temperature for 2015 was around 0.73C above the 1961 to 1990 average of 14C, and approximately one degree above the pre-industrial 1880 to 1899 period.
The WMO said the global average sea-surface temperature, which set a record last year, is also likely to be met or beaten this year — although there were some notable cold spots, like around the Antarctic.
"A strong anomaly in atmospheric patterns known as the Southern Annular Mode lasted for several months," the statement said.
"Eastern areas of north America were colder than average during the year, but none were record cold. Megacities swamped by sea rise
Australia's coastal capitals would slip under the waves along with megacities across the world even if global warming can be limited to 2 degrees Celsius, scientists say.
"After a warm January to September, Argentina experienced its coldest October on record."
Professor Matthew England from UNSW's Climate Change Research Centre said the global air average temperature record had been "absolutely smashed in 2015".
"This warming blows away the record-breaking 1997-1998 El Nino by a massive 0.2 degrees Celsius," he said.
"The cause of this difference between two similar El Nino years is record levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
"This should be a huge wake-up call in the lead up to Paris for urgent and binding deep cuts in fossil fuel emissions."
Dr Karl Braganza, the head of climate monitoring at the Bureau of Meteorology, worked on the report and said the heat would likely continue next year.
"Australia saw record spring temperatures in 2013, again in 2014, and this may well continue for a third consecutive year," he said.
"These are significant changes for the climate system, with a likelihood that these are the warmest temperatures since before the last ice age, and the highest levels of carbon dioxide in more than two-and-a-half million years." External Link: Interactive animation shows temperatures around Australia over the past week From other news sites:
PHOTO: A brilliant red sunset among clouds over Adelaide.(ABC: Ching-Ling Lim)
PHOTO: 2015's temperature changes in Celsius compared to 1961 to 1990.(WMO/Met Office Hadley Centre)
PHOTO: A brilliant red sunset among clouds over Adelaide.(ABC: Ching-Ling Lim)
