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| Past decade hottest on record, marked by extremes: UN | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 3 Jul 2013, 11:16 PM (25 Views) | |
| skibboy | 3 Jul 2013, 11:16 PM Post #1 |
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03 JULY 2013 Past decade hottest on record, marked by extremes: UN ![]() A doll lies on a hole in the dry soil of Los Laureles dam, southern Tegucigalpa, in Honduras on May 22, 2013. AFP - The first decade of the 21st century was the hottest on record, marked by unprecedented climate and weather extremes that killed more than 370,000 people, the United Nations weather agency said Wednesday. The period from 2001 to 2010 was the warmest decade for both hemispheres since records began in 1850, was the second-wettest since 1901 and saw the most tropical cyclones since 1855, the World Meteorological Organization said in a new report. "WMO's report shows that global warming accelerated in the four decades of 1971 to 2010 and that the decadal rate of increase between 1991-2000 and 2001-2010 was unprecedented," the head of the agency, Michel Jarraud, said in a statement. He placed much of the blame on rising concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases, which he said were "changing our climate, with far-reaching implications for our environment and our oceans, which are absorbing both carbon dioxide and heat." Preliminary findings released in March 2012 had already suggested the first 10 years of the millennium were the hottest ever, but WMO's report, "Global Climate 2001-2010, A Decade of Extremes," hammered home the message. Based on surveys of 139 countries, it showed that nearly 94 percent registered their warmest decade in 2001-2010, while 44 percent reported nationwide temperature records during the period. Globally, every year of the decade except 2008 was among the 10 warmest years on record, WMO said. Land and sea temperatures were 0.47 degrees Celsius above the long-term average of 14 degrees Celsius (57.2 degrees Fahrenheit) during the 10-year period, it added. Floods were the most frequently experienced extreme event during the decade, such as those in 2010 in Pakistan that killed some 2,000 people and affected 20 million others. The number of people killed by floods fell by 43 percent, and those who perished in storms by 16 percent over the decade, thanks to better early warning systems and increased preparedness. Despite this, the first 10 years of the 21st century registered more than 370,000 deaths linked to weather and climate extremes, up 20 percent from the previous decade. The increase was mainly due to heatwaves in Europe in 2003 and in Russia in 2010, which helped push the global heatwave death toll to 136,000, compared to just 6,000 in the previous decade. Source:
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| skibboy | 3 Jul 2013, 11:58 PM Post #2 |
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3 July 2013 Climate extremes are 'unprecedented' By Roger Harrabin Environment analyst ![]() More national temperature records were broken in the last decade than in previous ones The Earth experienced unprecedented recorded climate extremes during the decade 2001-2010, according to the World Meteorological Organisation. Its new report says more national temperature records were reported broken than in previous decades. There was an increase in deaths from heatwaves over that decade. This was particularly pronounced during the extreme summers in Europe in 2003 and in the Russian Federation during 2010. But despite the decade being the second wettest since 1901 (with 2010 the wettest year recorded) fewer people died from floods than in the previous decade. Better warning systems and increased preparedness take much of the credit for the reduced deaths. The WMO says smarter climate information will be needed as the climate continues to change. Its report, The Global Climate 2001-2010, A Decade of Climate Extremes, analysed global and regional trends, as well as extreme events such as Hurricane Katrina, floods in Pakistan and droughts in the Amazon, Australia and East Africa. The decade was the warmest for both hemispheres and for both land and ocean surface temperatures. The record warmth was accompanied by a rapid decline in Arctic sea ice, and accelerating loss of mass from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets and from glaciers. Global mean sea levels rose about 3mm per year - about double the observed 20th century trend of 1.6mm per year. Global sea level averaged over the decade was about 20cm higher than in 1880. The report notes that the high temperatures in the decade were achieved without a strong episode of the El Nino current which typically warms the world. It says that a strong El Nino episode would probably have driven temperatures even higher. Although overall temperature rise has slowed down since the 1990s, the WMO says temperatures are still rising because of greenhouse gases from human society. The WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said: “Natural climate variability, caused in part by interactions between our atmosphere and oceans means that some years are cooler than others. On an annual basis, the global temperature curve is not a smooth one. On a long-term basis the underlying trend is clearly in an upward direction, more so in recent times.” But climate change doubters emphasise the lack of movement in temperatures throughout the decade. Judah Cohen, director of seasonal forecasting at Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER), told BBC News that the issue hinged on the time frame. “For longer periods (two decades or longer) we found a robust and a statistically significant warming trend,” he said. For shorter periods - a decade or less - there is no longer a significant temperature trend of either sign, consistent with the reports of a recent 'plateauing' of global temperatures.” Even so, many climate scientists are alarmed by the consistently high temperatures during the decade. Every year of the decade except 2008 was among the 10 warmest on record. The warmest year ever recorded was 2010, with a temperature estimated at 0.54C above the 14.0C long-term average of 1961-1990 base period, followed closely by 2005. Greenland recorded the largest decadal temperature anomaly, +1.71C above the long-term average and with a temperature in 2010 of +3.2C above average. Africa experienced warmer than normal conditions in every year of the decade. Results from WMO’s survey showed that nearly 94% of reporting countries had their warmest decade in 2001-2010. No country reported a nationwide average decadal temperature cooler than the long term average. Source:
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9:57 AM Jul 11