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2017-11-07

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The sun rises over Frankfurt, Germany, on Monday. The World Climate Conference with 25 000 people participating starts on Monday in Bonn, Germany.   | Photo Credit: AP

Year 2017 will be one of the three hottest years on record, with many high-impact events, including catastrophic hurricanes and floods, debilitating heat waves and drought, says a provisional statement on the State of the Climate released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The average global temperature from January to September 2017 was approximately 1.1°C above the pre-industrial era, it notes.

As a result of a powerful El Niño, 2016 is likely to remain the warmest year on record, with 2017 and 2015 being second or third.

The WMO statement, which uses 1981-2010 as the baseline, was released on Monday at the opening day of the United Nations (UN) climate change conference in Bonn.

“The past three years have all been in the top three years in terms of temperature records. This is a part of a long term warming trend,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas, in a release, adding, “We have witnessed extraordinary weather, including temperatures topping 50 degrees Celsius in Asia, record-breaking hurricanes in rapid succession in the Caribbean and Atlantic reaching as far as Ireland, devastating monsoon flooding affecting many millions of people and a relentless drought in East Africa.”

Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, which is hosting the Bonn conference, said, “These findings underline the rising risks to people, economies and the very fabric of life on Earth if we fail to get on track with the aims and ambitions of the Paris Agreement”.

“Bonn 2017 needs to be the launch pad towards the next, higher level of ambition by all nations and all sectors of society as we look to de-risk the future and maximize the opportunities from a fresh, forward-looking and sustainable development path,” she said.

Extreme events due to climate change have affected the food security of millions of people, with agriculture accounting for 26% of all the damage and loss associated with medium to large scale storms, floods and drought, says the statement, citing an FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) assessment. Further, between 2000 and 2016, the number of vulnerable people exposed to heatwave events increased by approximately 125 million.

In 2016, 23.5 million people were displaced during weather-related disasters. In Somalia, more than 7, 60, 000 internal displacements have been reported by UN agencies.

All-India rainfall for the 2017 monsoon season (June to September) was 5% below average. However, above average rainfall in the Northeast and adjacent countries led to significant flooding. Many parts of the Indian subcontinent were affected by monsoonal flooding. The most serious flooding occurred in mid-August in eastern Nepal, northern Bangladesh and nearby northern India. Mawsynram (India) received more than 1400 mm from August 9 to 12.

Three major and high-impact hurricanes occurred in the North Atlantic in rapid succession, with Harvey in August, followed by Irma and Maria in September.

The global mean sea level (GMSL) has been relatively stable in 2017 to date, similar to levels first reached in late 2015. This is because the temporary influence of the 2015-16 El Niño continues to unwind and GMSL is reverting to values closer to the long-term trend. However, preliminary data shows that a rise in GMSL may have started to resume from July-August 2017 onwards.

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