Global warming brought about new temperature records in the year 2016, as it marked the year with exceptionally low sea ice, ocean heat, higher global temperatures, and sea level rise.
In a new report on climate change in 2016, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), United Nations' specialized agency for the state and behavior of our planet's atmosphere, summarized the crisis that planet Earth currently faces amid rising temperatures
The report confirmed that Earth experienced the warmest temperature in recorded history in 2016 with a remarkable difference of 1.1 degrees Celsius from the pre-industrial period, and 0.06 degrees Celsius difference from the earlier record that was set in 2015.
"Globally averaged sea surface temperatures were also the warmest on record, global sea levels continued to rise, and Arctic sea-ice extent was well below average for most of the year," said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.
Human-Caused Global Warming
Taalas said that with the level of heat-trapping carbon dioxide consistently reaching new records, the contributions of man-made activities on climate become more evident.
He said that access to long-term climate data and improved power of computing tools have made it possible to clearly show the link between man-made climate changes and the number of cases of high-impact extreme events.
Extreme Events Linked To Climate Change
Among the noteworthy extreme events that occurred in 2016 include severe droughts that impacted food security in Central America as well as southern and eastern Africa. Hurricane Matthew had devastating effect in Haiti, being the first category 4 storm that made a landfall after about half a century and caused economic losses in the United States. Floods and heavy rains likewise occurred and caused damages in Asia.
Earth Entering New Era As Global Warming Brings About Changes
The WMO report said that over the long term, global temperatures have been increasing at 0.1 degrees Celsius to 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade.
The current climate change is bringing the Earth and the creatures on it into a new era as it brings about changes.
"We are now in truly uncharted territory," said World Climate Research Programme Director David Carlson.
Effects Of A Warming World
The warming world is being attributed as a factor to changing sizes of animals and changing landscapes because of rising sea levels.
Rising weather conditions alter animal and people's behavior. Scientists have predicted that hot climate may increase the number of shark attacks. Climate change has been attributed to wars happening in some parts of the world.
The changing climate also pose health threats to millions of people worldwide. Humans have to deal with more diseases with rising temperatures.
The spread of mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and Zika, for instance, has something to do with warmer weather conditions since rising temperatures expand the areas in which the disease-carrying mosquitoes thrive.
"Climate change and variability are highly likely to influence current vector-borne disease epidemiology. The effects are likely to be expressed in many ways, from short-term epidemics to long-term gradual changes in disease trends," the World Health Organization said in a report.
