The World Weather Organization (WMO) confirmed fears on Wednesday about continued global warming. The past four years have been the warmest since records began nearly 170 years ago. The outlook for the current year promises little improvement.
The World Weather Organization, based in Geneva, also confirmed the predictions of the US weather authority NOAA. 2018 was the fourth warmest year, the global average temperature was around one degree Celsius higher than in the pre-industrial era (1850 to 1900) and 0.38 degrees above the mean of the years 1981 to 2010. In 2015 and 2017, the average was 1.1 degrees higher. According to WMO, the record holds 2016 at 1.2 degrees, above the pre-industrial average. In the year meteorologists observed an unusually strong effect by El Nino.
This weather phenomenon, which returns a few years later, is accompanied by changing wind currents and water temperatures in the Pacific that affect the weather in many parts of the world. The heat records are „a clear indication of ongoing long-term climate change,“ wrote the WMO after evaluating data from five large collections of data.
Much more important than the evaluation of individual years is the long-term trend, said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. The world’s 20 warmest years have been registered over the past 22 years. However, the magnitude of the warming over the past four years has been extraordinary – both on land and in the oceans. The increase in temperature goes hand in hand with an increase in the concentration of climate-damaging gases in the atmosphere. „Reducing greenhouse gases and mitigation actions must be a priority worldwide,“ Taalas said.
The higher average temperature and record levels of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere would have severe consequences. „Many countries and millions of people experienced extreme weather in 2018, with devastating economic and ecosystem consequences.“
In Germany, 2018 was the warmest year
In Germany, in 2018, after a preliminary balance of the Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG) announced at the end of December, 1.8 degrees above the long-term average was the warmest in the history of measurement. The second warmest so far was 2014, the third warmest in 2015.
The director of the Goddard Institute of the American Space Agency NASA, Gavin Schmidt, said that the effects of global warming are already being felt. He referred to floods of coastal regions, heat waves, heavy rainfall and a change in ecological systems.
Heat in the south, cold in the north
The year 2019 has also started with record temperatures. In January, January was the warmest in the history of the trade fair, and the driest so far in the Australian state of Tasmania. The trend towards longer-lasting heat waves has been confirmed as one of the consequences of climate change.
In contrast to the extreme heat wave in the southern hemisphere, North America was hit by extreme cold in January. The cold in the US is not in conflict with global warming, the WMO said. The Arctic warms twice as fast, much of the ice has melted. This influences the weather and the climate of other regions.
