2016 will go down the annals of history as the hottest year on record. If there is a cold period at the far end of the year, there could be a reprieve from this dubious distinction. As the negotiation continues in Morocco, the World Metrological Organization released these grim findings just three days before the Paris accord comes into force. The Paris agreement has met its requirement of being ratified by at least 55 nations. These 55 countries represent 55% of the global greenhouse gasses of the globe.
However, an air of uncertainty hangs over the accord after the unexpected victory of Donald Trump in the US Presidential election. Donald is known as an avowed skeptic of climate change and has threatened to pull out his country from the 2015 Paris climate change accord.
WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas in a statement said that though the heat from the El Nino has disappeared, the heat from global warming still continues unabated. Sixteen of the hottest years on record have occurred in this century, the only exception being the year 1998 and so far, last year was the hottest.
One can hope that this year’s record is not broken in 2017 or it will signal a cataclysmic chain reaction which will end only with the demise of human civilization. The Paris agreement is seeking to stop this rising temperature to 2 degrees Celsius or if possible 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
However, this only seems a pipedream according to experts. Arctic regions of Russia are witnessing a rise of 6 to 7 degree above the long-term average. At many Polar Regions in the far north in Canada, Alaska, and Russia, this increase is in the range of 3 to 4 degree Celsius. Hence just measuring temperatures of a particular region is not going to serve the purpose.
The US and China are the biggest emitters of green house gasses, and they have jointly agreed to the implementation of the Paris Agreement. In fact, climate change was a big issue for the Obama Administration. With the election of Donald Trump who has threatened to reverse the progress, environmentalists are worried that we are back to square one again.
