Extreme weather events expected in 2020, UN issues warning

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Extreme weather events expected in 2020, UN issues warning
Extreme weather events expected in 2020, UN issues warning

New Delhi : On record, past year has been the hottest of the all time, the UN said, issuing a warning that the high temperatures were expected to fuel numerous extreme weather events in 2020 and beyond.

The World Meteorological Organization in its report, which has been prepared with the study of global data set, has revealed that the side effects of the extreme temperatures have already started showing their effects, pointing to "retreating ice, record sea levels, increasing ocean heat and acidification, and extreme weather".

WMO in its report also featured that 2019 was the second hottest year after 2016 on record.

"The year 2020 has started out where 2019 left off -- with high-impact weather and climate-related events," WMO chief Petteri Taalas said in a statement, pointing in particular to the devastating bushfires that have been raging in Australia for months.

Nearly 28 people have been reported killed due to the bushfire. The fires have already destroyed more than 2,000 homes and burnt 10 million hectares (100,000 square kilometres) of land -- an area larger than South Korea or Portugal.

"Unfortunately, we expect to see much extreme weather throughout 2020 and the coming decades, fuelled by record levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere," Taalas said.

"On the current path of carbon dioxide emissions, we are heading towards a temperature increase of three to five degrees Celsius by the end of the century," he warned.