2017 is set to be in top three hottest years: WMO

All-India rainfall for the 2017 monsoon season was 5% below average, the statement says

2017 will be one of the three hottest years on record, with many high-impact events including catastrophic hurricanes and floods, debilitating heat waves and drought, a provisional statement on the State of the Climate released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has said. 

The average global temperature from January to September 2017 was approximately 1.1°C above the pre-industrial era. Powerful El Nino As a result of a powerful El Niño, 2016 is likely to remain the warmest year on record, with 2017 and 2015 being second or third. 

The WMO statement, which uses 1981-2010 as the baseline, was released on Monday at the opening day of the United Nations climate change conference in Bonn. “The past three years have all been in the top three years in terms of temperature records. 

This is part of a long term warming trend,” said WMO SecretaryGeneral Petteri Taalas, in a release. “We have witnessed extraordinary weather, including temperatures topping 50 degrees Celsius in Asia, record-breaking hurricanes in rapid succession in the Caribbean and Atlantic reaching as far as Ireland, devastating monsoon flooding affecting many millions of people and a relentless drought in East Africa,” Mr. Taalas added. 

Extreme weather events due to climate change have affected the food security of millions of people with agriculture accounting for 26% of all the damage and loss associated with medium to large-scale storms, floods and drought, the statement said, citing an FAO assessment. 

Flooding in Northeast All-India rainfall for the 2017 monsoon season (June to September) was 5% below average. However, aboveaverage rainfall in the Northeast and adjacent countries led to significant flooding. Many parts of the Indian subcontinent were affected by monsoonal flooding, the statement said.