Let’s take a moment on this Thanksgiving to reflect on how future generations probably won’t have as much to be thankful for as our generation does as a result of our generation’s carbon intensive lifestyle.
Climate change makes past five-year period the warmest on record: WMO
UN weather body says man-made global warming and El Niño oceanic phenomenon made 2011-2015 the warmest five-year period on record
By Arthur Neslen
Climate change made 2011-2015 the warmest five-year period on record, according to’s (WMO) state of the global climate report.
This year is set to be the single hottest ever registered, with planetary temperatures passing the symbolic milestone of 1C above pre-industrial levels.
The WMO’s stock-take attributes the sweltering conditions to a cocktail of man-made global warming and the effects of the El Niño oceanic phenomenon.
“The state of the global climate in 2015 will make history as for a number of reasons,” the WMO’s secretary-general, Michel Jarraud, told a press conference in Geneva. “2015 is likely to be the hottest year on record, with ocean surface temperatures at the highest level since measurements began. It is probable that the 1C Celsius threshold will be crossed. This is all bad news for the planet.”
“There were significant, record heatwaves in many parts of the world [in 2015],” Jarraud said. “Can we attribute these extreme weather events to climate change? When it comes to temperature, the answer is increasingly yes for some of the big ones.”
Research indicated that the probability of such sweltering conditions had risen by a factor of up to 10 because of climate change, he added.