Uncharted territory

Climate change is not a distant threat but is already happening. According to the latest annual review by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which draws on data from 80 national weather services:

2016 was the warmest year on record, at about 1.1°C above preindustrial levels, about 0.1- 0.2°C of which was contributed by the El Niño weather phenomenon.

The global sea ice extent is more than four million square kilometres below average.

The global ocean temperature was the second highest on record in 2016, contributing to severe coral bleaching including on the Great Barrier Reef.

In the Arctic, temperatures are 3°C above the 1961-1990 average.

In the high Arctic, in Norway’s Svalbard, the mean annual temperature is 6.5°C above the 1961-1990 average.

Sea levels globally have risen 20cm since the start of the 20th century. Even without the El Niño effect, “we are seeing other remarkable changes across the planet that are challenging the limits of our understanding of the climate system”, said the WMO’s David Carlson when releasing the report in March. “We are now in truly uncharted territory.”