A new report from the World Meteorological Organization warns that the current climate is bringing Earth into “truly uncharted territory,” highlighting the exceptionally low sea ice and rises in ocean heat, global temperatures, and sea levels experienced by different parts of the world.
The WMO, the United Nations' specialized agency for the state and behavior of the planet’s atmosphere, confirmed that the planet suffered the warmest temperature in record last year, with a notable difference of 0.06 degrees Celsius from the record set in 2015 and 1.1 degrees C from pre-industrial levels.
Here are some extreme events that occurred in 2016 and damaged the United States as well as other countries.
Major Droughts In Central America And Africa
The year started with droughts linked to El Niño striking several territories. While most of those regions returned to near- or above-average rainfall during the course of the year, the effects of drought lingered in some cases.
Much of southern Africa suffered severe drought, where rainfall was up to 60 percent below average for the summer rainy season. Crop failures were the inevitable result.
“Drought emergencies were declared in all but one of South Africa’s provinces, while, further north, poor agricultural production resulted in food shortages,” the WMO report revealed. “[World Food Programme] estimated that 18.2 million people would require emergency assistance by early 2017.”
Significant droughts also hit much of India, parts of Vietnam (with significant agricultural losses), northern Ethiopia, and large swathes of Indonesia.
Many parts of eastern United States, too, experienced a dry summer and autumn.
Significant Flooding
Floods and heavy rains likewise occurred and caused damages in large sections of Asia. Flooding and landslides in Sri Lanka back in May, according to the report, left more than 200 people missing or dead, along with hundreds of thousands displaced.
Extreme flooding struck parts of the southern U.S. region, particularly Louisiana in August. Total losses from the climate event were estimated at $10 billion.
Tropical Cyclones
The most destructive tropical cyclone last year was Hurricane Matthew, which ravaged parts of the North Atlantic from September to October and reached an intensity of Category 5 south of Haiti, the first to do so since 2007.
Haiti bore the most brunt with at least 546 deaths reported and a worsening of its food insecurity and disease nationwide. It suffered over $15 billion in economic losses along with the United States, Cuba, and the Bahamas.
Destructive Wildfires
Canada’s most damaging wildfire in history took place in May near Fort McMurray in Alberta. The fire led to total city-wide evacuation, damage to 2,400 buildings, and several billions in losses. The fire burned an area of around 590,000 hectares before being declared under control in early July.
Uncharacteristically dry conditions in southeastern United States contributed to the record-setting wildfire in Gatlinburg, Tennessee on Nov. 28, where 14 deaths were recorded and some 2,400 structures were partly or completely destroyed.
Extreme Hot And Cold
As grimly predicted, 2016 emerged as the hottest year yet since record keeping began in 1880. It is also the third consecutive year to set a new record for average global temperatures.
Major heat waves occurred in southern Africa, exacerbated by an ongoing drought, as well as in South and Southeast Asia, Middle East, northern Africa, and parts of western and central Europe at different times of the year.
The most notable cold, on the other hand, took place in eastern Asia in January, with extreme temperature lows extending southward from eastern China to as far south as Thailand.
Late-season frosts also resulted in significant agricultural damage in April in central and eastern Europe.
Drastic climate change observed in 2016 will likely make a comeback in 2017, warned the report.
"Even without a strong El Niño in 2017, we are seeing other remarkable changes across the planet that are challenging the limits of our understanding of the climate system," said WMO director David Carlson.
