Hottest five years ever ahead

THE next five years are expected to be the hottest in history, weather experts warned yesterday.

The prediction came as global figures revealed that 2018 was the fourth warmest ever recorded – topped only by 2016, 2015 and 2017.

Put together, the last five years had the highest temperatures since modern measurements began, and were on average around 1C above levels between 1850, when records began, and 1900.

The trend is expected to continue, with temperatures for 2019 to 2023 forecast to be between 1.03C and 1.57C above those just after the Industrial Revolution.

The figures from the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organisation led to calls for more urgent action on climate change amid increasingly frequent extreme weather. Last year saw hurricanes devastate parts of the US, disastrous flooding in India and deadly wildfires in California and Greece.

WMO secretary general Petteri Taalas said: ‘The long-term temperature trend is far more important than the ranking of individual years, and that trend is an upward one.

‘The 20 warmest years on record have been in the past 22 years. The degree of warming during the past four years has been exceptional, both on land and in the ocean.’

He added: ‘This is a reality we need to face up to. Greenhouse gas emission reduction and climate adaptation measures should be a top global priority.’