The year 2013 is likely to be among the top 10 warmest on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization. It continues a pattern of high temperatures blamed directly on man-made climate change. Nations meeting at UN climate talks in Warsaw, Poland, are struggling to make progress on political solutions to climate trends.
 thinkprogress.org | A spokesman from WMO said although individual tropical cyclones cannot be directly attributed to climate change, higher sea levels are already making coastal populations more vulnerable to storm surges. Of the broad pattern, he said: “All of the warmest years have been since 1998, and this year once again continues the underlying, long-term trend. The coldest years now are warmer than the hottest years before 1998. |
"Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases reached new highs in 2012, and we expect them to reach unprecedented levels yet again in 2013. This means that we are committed to a warmer future.
"Surface temperatures are only part of the wider picture of our changing climate. The impact on our water cycle is already becoming apparent - as manifested by droughts, floods and extreme precipitation."
people.uwec.edu Today’s statement is provisional, pending weather patterns to the end of the year, but it confirms that global sea level reached a new record high. The spokesman said the overall trend was clear. He urged governments to end subsidies for fossil fuels and give people clean energy sources.
On the news today, Japan is to significantly slash its greenhouse gas reduction target in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. With all of Japan's nuclear power plants currently offline, the country is forced to increase its burning of fossil fuels. Coal, oil and gas are called "fossil fuels" because they have been formed from the organic remains of prehistoric plants and animals.
On the news today, Japan is to significantly slash its greenhouse gas reduction target in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. With all of Japan's nuclear power plants currently offline, the country is forced to increase its burning of fossil fuels. Coal, oil and gas are called "fossil fuels" because they have been formed from the organic remains of prehistoric plants and animals.
www.discoveringfossils.co.uk The plight of people in the Philippines after the horrific Typhoon Haiyan claimed so many lives and caused such devastation is heartrending. Some sources say there is little hope for the survivors as countries make every effort to rush supplies in to help. However, the country is not the only place to experience extreme weather. In 2012, the US suffered record high temperatures.
This year, Australia recorded its warmest 12-month period on record ending in August. Despite the record temperatures, climate change has proved politically explosive in Australia, with the new government scrapping a controversial carbon tax and refusing to pay into a fund to help poor countries most affected by climate change.
How unfeeling of Australia to keep their toys locked away and not share with the rest of the world.
This year, Australia recorded its warmest 12-month period on record ending in August. Despite the record temperatures, climate change has proved politically explosive in Australia, with the new government scrapping a controversial carbon tax and refusing to pay into a fund to help poor countries most affected by climate change.
How unfeeling of Australia to keep their toys locked away and not share with the rest of the world.
But Prof Kevin Parton from the Institute for Land, Water and Society at Charles Sturt University in New South Wales said: “The overall message of the WMO statement is that recent conditions from all parts of the globe have been precisely what climate scientists predicted would occur under conditions of global warming.
"Apart from increasing global temperatures, the statement points to many, many examples of extreme weather from the UK to Russia, and from the Sudan to Argentina. It also highlights huge impacts of climate change on Arctic sea ice, the Greenland Ice Sheet, Antarctic sea ice and the rise in global sea level.
"If you look only at heat waves over the last 12 months, then extreme conditions occurred in Australia, South Africa, Pakistan, Austria, Finland, China and Japan.”
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Dr Steve Rintoul, research team leader at Australia's CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research division, said: "A more significant point is that global-average temperature in each of the last three decades has been warmer than any prior decade dating back to 1850, as reported in the recently released IPCC report. It provides compelling evidence that human activities are primarily responsible for the warming over the last 50 years."
I can't help with solutions. I hope the world leaders come to some agreement in time to save the world. As more people occupy our planet, the demand for fuel will increase. That's a more difficult problem. Perhaps China's one-child policy shows the way to the future.
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