OSLO: The past three years were the hottest on record and heat waves in Australia, freak Arctic warmth and water shortages in Cape Town are extending harmful weather extremes in 2018, the UN said. Atlantic hurricanes and monsoon floods in India contributed to make 2017 the most costly year on record for severe weather and climate events, the UN ´s World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) wrote in its annual report on the global climate. “The start of 2018 has continued where 2017 left off – with extreme weather claiming lives and destroying livelihoods,” WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas wrote in the report. The study confirmed a provisional finding that 2016 was the warmest year in records dating back to the 19th century, with 2017 and 2015 tied for second place in a warming trend the WMO blames on man-made emissions of greenhouse gases. Last year was the hottest year without an extra boost from an El Nino event that releases heat from the Pacific Ocean. Talaas said unusually high temperatures in the Arctic in 2018 contrasted with bitter winter storms in Europe and North America.
Also so far in 2018, “Australia and Argentina suffered extreme heat waves, whilst drought continued in Kenya and Somalia, and the South African city of Cape Town struggled with acute water shortages,” he said.
Liberal Justice Elena Kagan on Sept. 13, 2016. — Slate website WASHINGTON: U.S. Supreme Court justices, wading back...
A representational image of inmates behind jail bars. — Unsplash/FileMOSCOW: A Russian court on Wednesday ordered...
Sudanese soldiers guard the surrounding area of the UNMIS compound in El-Fasher, the administrative capital of North...
US quietly shipped ATACMS missiles to Ukraine. — Report news agencyWASHINGTON: The United States in recent weeks...
US President Joe Biden during his address in California. — AFP FileWASHINGTON: President Joe Biden signed a...
The World Meteorological Organisation flag. — AFP FileGENEVA: Global temperatures hit record highs last year, and...