2016 was the warmest year on record, and in 2017 extreme temperatures and weather conditions are likely to continue, the World Meteorological Organization has warned . The agency has published the statement of 2016 on the State of the Global Climate, in which It finds that changes in a number of environmental factors are going so fast that they are outpacing our understanding of the climate system.

The organization’s experts point out that each of the 16 years since 2001 has been at least 0.4ºC warmer than the 1961-1990 average. Climate change, combined with the El Niño event, has led to the temperature record of 2016. Globally, the sea level has risen by 20 cm since the beginning of the 20th century, mainly due to the thermal expansion of the oceans and the melting of glaciers and ice caps. The sea surface temperature broke a record in 2016. As the sea rises, the Arctic Ocean freezes hard in winter, and the maximum ice sheet area reached last year was the lowest observed by satellite since 1979 2016 was also the driest year on record in the Amazon rainforest, while rainy season rainfall in southern Africa was 20-60% lower than usual for the second consecutive year.< /h3>

According to World Meteorological Organization President Petteri Taalas, the constantly record-breaking level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere makes human influence on the climate system increasingly evident. The level of CO2 in the atmosphere reached 400 parts per million in 2015, and will not drop below that level for several generations due to the durability of carbon. As the numbers rise, the problem of climate change is beyond our understanding and control.

That is why Taalas considers the entry into force of the Paris Agreement a historic milestone, and underlines the need for the agreement to be put into practice and for the global community to take action on the matter by curbing greenhouse gases, building climate resilience and turning climate adaptation into national development policies.