The world is ‘way off track’ for meeting climate targets as planet gets hotter and sea levels rise, UN warns
- Report was compiled by UN’s World Meteorological Organisation (WMO)
- It highlights heat, accelerating sea level rises, extreme weather events
- Australia was particularly hard-hit in 2019 – its hottest year on record
The world is ‘way off track’ for meeting targets to curb rising temperatures as the impacts of climate change increase, warned United Nations experts.
A report compiled by the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) highlights the increasing heat, accelerating sea level rises and more frequent extreme weather events in 2019.
Last year was globally the second hottest year on record, with temperatures 1.1C above pre-industrial levels.
The world is ‘way off track’ for meeting targets to curb rising temperatures as the impacts of climate change increase, warned United Nations experts. Pictured: A coal-fired power plant
And the five years from 2015 to 2019 were the five warmest years on record and 2010 to 2019 was the hottest decade since records began in the 19th century.
Australia was particularly hard-hit in 2019 – its hottest year on record – as it suffered a severe season of wildfires.
The trend continues in 2020 as it was globally the hottest January on record and parts of the northern hemisphere, including Europe, experienced an unusually warm winter. And Antarctica reported new temperature highs, accompanied by large-scale ice melt.
Countries are expected to increase their action to tackle climate change.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: ‘We are currently way off track to meeting either the 1.5C or 2C targets that the Paris Agreement calls for.
‘This report outlines the latest science and illustrates the urgency for far-reaching climate action.’