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| WMO Secretary General addressing reporters in Geneva [PHOTO: UNifeed] |
Geneva: The last eleven years (2001–2011) were among the top warmest
years on record, and the first ten months of 2012 indicate that this year will
not be an exception, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned in its annual statement on the world's weather.
The year was characterized by unusual warmth across most of
the globe's land areas and a weak-to-moderate La Niña at the beginning of the
year.
Overall, the 2012 global land and ocean temperature during
January–October 2012 is estimated to be 0.45°C1 ±0.10°C2 (0.81°F ±0.18°F) above
the 1961–1990 average. This is the ninth warmest such period since records
began in 1850, according to WMO.
WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud told journalists in
Geneva that "the main message is that it confirms the trend to a warmer
planet". He said climate change was "taking place before our
eyes" and would continue to do so as a result of the concentrations of greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere, which he said had risen constantly and again reached
new records.
Jarraud said the extent of Arctic sea ice had reached a new
record low. The alarming rate of its melt this year highlighted the
far-reaching changes taking place on Earth's oceans and biosphere.
He noted that many regions have faced extremes of droughts,
floods and heat waves. The number of cyclones worldwide was around normal but
some, such as Hurricane Sandy, which lashed the Caribbean and the United States,
were especially devastating. -UNifeed