© Shutterstock

Record warmth - According to data released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), 2019 is expected to be the second or third warmest year on record.

© Reuters

State of the Climate - In its provisional State of the Climate report, the WMO says 2019 concludes a decade of exceptional global heat, retreating ice, and record sea levels generated by greenhouse gases from human activities.

© Shutterstock

Highest on record - Average temperatures for the five-year (2015-2019) and ten-year (2010-2019) periods are almost certain to be the highest on record, adds the Geneva-based intergovernmental organization.

© Shutterstock

Global average up - Underlining what many in the scientific and environmental communities already know, the WMO confirms that the global average temperature in 2019 (January to October) was about 1.1°C  (33.98°F) above the pre-industrial period.

© Shutterstock

High concentrations of carbon dioxide - Worryingly, concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO₂₎ in the atmosphere hit a record level in 2018 and continued to rise in 2019.

© Shutterstock

Lingering threat - And here's something to contemplate. Did you know that CO₂ lasts in the atmosphere for centuries, and the ocean for even longer? This double whammy locks in climate change like a clenched fist!

© Shutterstock

Sea level rise - The scientists at the WMO have more bad news. Sea level rise has accelerated since the start of satellite measurements in 1993. Why? Primarily because of the melting of ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica.

© Shutterstock

Paying a heavy price - The ocean, which acts as a buffer by absorbing heat and carbon dioxide, is paying a heavy price.

© Shutterstock

Acidic marine environment - Ocean heat is at record levels and there have been widespread marine heatwaves. Sea water is 26% more acidic than at the start of the industrial era. Vital marine ecosystems are being degraded (Great Barrier Reef, anyone?)

© Shutterstock

Sea-ice decline - The report points out that the daily Arctic Sea-ice extent (measure of the surface area of the ocean covered by sea-ice) minimum in September 2019 was the second lowest in the satellite record. October has seen further record low extents. And in fragile Antarctica, 2019 saw record low ice extents in some months.

© Shutterstock

Urgent action needed - "If we do not take urgent climate action now, then we are heading for a temperature increase of more than 3°C [37.4°F] by the end of the century, with ever more harmful impacts on human well-being," warned WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. "We are nowhere near on track to meet the Paris Agreement target."

© Shutterstock

Abnormal weather patterns - "On a day-to-day basis, the impacts of climate change play out through extreme and 'abnormal' weather," he added. "And, once again in 2019, weather and climate-related risks hit hard."

© Reuters

Devastating floods - "Heatwaves and floods which used to be 'once in a century' events are becoming more regular occurrences. Countries ranging from the Bahamas to Japan to Mozambique [pictured] suffered the effect of devastating tropical cyclones. Wildfires swept through the Arctic and Australia," reminded Taalas.

© Reuters

Erratic rainfall - "One of the main impacts of climate change is more erratic rainfall patterns. This poses a threat to crop yields and, combined with population increase, will mean considerable food security challenges for vulnerable countries in the future," Taalas underlined.

© Shutterstock

Extreme heat - Extreme heat conditions are taking an increasing toll on human health. The health systems suffering greater impacts are those with aging populations, urbanization, urban heat island effects, and health inequities, the report continues.

© Shutterstock

Heatwave exposure - According to the WMO, in 2018 a record 220 million more cases of vulnerable people over 65 complaining of heatwave exposure were recorded.

© Reuters

Mercury rising - Heatwaves across Europe in 2019 set new national records. Here are some sizzling hot WMO figures. France: 46.0°C (114.8°F); Germany: 42.6°C (108.68°F); Netherlands: 40.7°C ((105.26°F); Belgium: 41.8°C (107.24°F); Luxembourg: 40.8°C (105.44°F); United Kingdom: 38.7°C (101.66°F).

© Reuters

Burning up! - It was even hotter down under. Adelaide (pictured) experienced an excruciating 46.6°C (115.88°F) on 24 January, the city's highest temperature on record.  

© Shutterstock

Extreme weather, global hunger - Variations in climate and extreme weather events are among the key causes of the recent rise in global hunger, the report emphasizes.

© Shutterstock

Starvation - Indeed, after a witnessing a decline over the last ten years, global hunger is on the rise again—over 820 million people suffered from hunger in 2018, according to WMO statistics.

© Shutterstock

"Hazard events" - The WMO cites what it calls "hazard events" such as Cyclone Idai in southeast Africa, Cyclone Fani in south Asia, Hurricane Dorian in the Caribbean (pictured), and flooding in Iran, Philippines, and Ethiopia as generating acute humanitarian and protection needs.

© Reuters

El Niño - Remember 2016? This image of cultivated agricultural ground in south Australia stricken by severe drought will jog the memory. That year remains the warmest on record, helped along by an innocuous sounding climate pattern known as El Niño.

© Reuters

Melting ice - Here's another reality check from the WMO: large parts of the Arctic were unusually warm in 2019.

© Shutterstock

Unusually warm - In fact, most land areas were warmer than the recent average, elaborates the report's authors. Places including South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania all saw the mercury rise. The US state of Alaska (pictured) was especially warm.

© Shutterstock

Meteorological paradox - But here's the paradox. In contrast, a large area of North America has been colder than the recent average. Pictured is the Chicago skyline framed by icicles as a deadly blast of arctic air hit the area in 2014. What's going on?

© Reuters

Record greenhouse gas concentrations - At the other extreme, in 2018 greenhouse gas concentrations reached new highs. While the WMO currently has no global average figures for 2019, indicators suggest that the trend upwards has continued.

© Shutterstock

Sinking feeling - In October 2019, the global mean sea level reached its highest since records began in 1993. It's a fact already close to home for places like Mabul Island in Malaysia (pictured), which is in real danger of becoming submerged as water levels increase.

© Shutterstock

Wildfire woe - The 2019 wildfires in South America made headlines around the world, and the report notes that total fire activity on the continent was the highest since 2010, with Bolivia and Venezuela among the countries with particularly active fire years.

© Reuters

Disease - According to the WMO and data collated from the World Health Organization, one critter benefiting from climate chaos is the Aedes mosquito species. Changes in climatic conditions since 1950 is making it easier for this bloodsucker to transmit dengue virus. The report adds that in 2019, the world has experienced a large increase in dengue cases, compared with the same time period in 2018.

© Shutterstock

Displacement -

Similarly, according to statistics gathered by WMO and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and International Organization for Migration, more than 10 million new internal displacements were recorded between January and June 2019 as a direct result of climate-related disasters including cyclone activity and flooding. The reports concludes that the number of new displacements associated with weather extremes could more than triple (to around 22 million) by the end of 2019.

See also: Going green: stars who champion environmentalism. 

© Reuters