We’re living in hottest decade on record, says UN – TheNigerialawyer

Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General to The World Meteorological
Organisation (WMO) has said that the current decade is on track to
be the hottest on record.

Taalas who made the remark on Tuesday at the UN climate summit
in Madrid, said, “We are nowhere near on track to meet the Paris
Agreement target.

“If we do not take urgent climate action now, then we are
heading for a temperature increase of more than 3 degrees by the
end of the century.’’

Delegates from nearly 200 countries gathered in the Spanish
capital to iron out rules to reach the Paris Agreement’s goal of
limiting global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius above
pre-industrial levels.

According to the WMO, the global average temperature until
October of 2019 was 1.1 degrees above the levels seen before the
start of the industrial age in the late 18th century.

It said that the recent records put 2019 on course to be the
second or third warmest year on record.

The WMO also reiterated its recent finding that concentrations
of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide hit a record level in the
atmosphere in 2018 and continued to rise in 2019.

WMO warned that the oceans are paying a heavy price for global
warming, as they absorb heat and carbon dioxide.

It added that ocean’s heat has reached record levels as seawater
is 26 per cent more acidic than at the start of the industrial era
warning that marine ecosystems are being degraded. (dpa/NAN)