The forecast: Expect record heat

TT

Published 06.02

 

The next five years will probably be record hot, according to the WMO's global climate update. Photo: Gregorio Borgia/AP/TT

The World Meteorological Organization WMO expects the planet to be record hot – or at least close to it – over the next five years.

It will be wetter south of the Sahara and drier in the Amazon. Northern Europe will also be wetter and warmer in the coming years, according to the new WMO report.

Everything indicates that the global temperature until 2030 will be in the range of 1.3–1.9 degrees above normal, that is, the average for the years 1850–1900. The reason is the combination of climate change, primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels, and the naturally recurring El Niño phenomenon.

There is a high risk that the 2024 record of 1.55 degrees above normal will be broken for at least one year. But the risk of more than 2 degrees above normal is very small.