Last decade on course to be warmest -------------------------------------- Average temperatures from 2010-2019 look set to make it the warmest decade on record, preliminary findings by the World Meteorological Organization suggest -------------------------------------- AVERAGE GLOBAL TEMPERATURE* Difference from 1850-1900 average (°C) -------------------------------------- +1.2 +1.0 +0.8 +0.6 +0.4 1989 1999 2009 2019 1989: +0.47C 1999: +0.61C 2016: +1.15C Hottest year on record Jan-Oct 2019: +1.1C 2019 on course to be second or third warmest year ever 2015-19 2010-2019 Five-year (2015-19) and 10-year (2010-19) periods “almost certain” to be hottest on record -------------------------------------- OTHER KEY FINDINGS -------------------------------------- World’s seas are 26 percent more acidic than 150 years ago, degrading vital marine ecosystems -------------------------------------- Ice is melting at both poles and sea level rise has accelerated since start of satellite measurements in 1993 -------------------------------------- Climate change is key driver of recent rise in global hunger with over 820 million people affected in 2018 -------------------------------------- Number of newly displaced people as result of weather extremes could reach 22 million by end of 2019 -------------------------------------- *NOAA, NASA and HadCRUT4 data sets -------------------------------------- Source: WMO Provisional Statement of State of Climate 2019 Pictures: Getty Images © GRAPHIC NEWS