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[MassiveNights]

2016 will very likely be the hottest year on record and a new high for the third year in a row, according to the UN. It means 16 of the 17 hottest years on record will have been this century.

The scorching temperatures around the world, and the extreme weather they drive, mean the impacts of climate change on people are coming sooner and with more ferocity than expected, according to scientists.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report, published on Monday at the global climate summit in Morocco, found the global temperature in 2016 is running 1.2C above pre-industrial levels. This is perilously close to to the 1.5C target included as an aim of the Paris climate agreement last December.

The El Niño weather phenomenon helped push temperatures even higher in early 2016 but the global warming caused by the greenhouse gas emissions from human activities remains the strongest factor.

“Another year. Another record,” said WMO secretary-general, Petteri Taalas. “The extra heat from the powerful El Niño event has disappeared. The heat from global warming will continue.”

“Because of climate change, the occurrence and impact of extreme events has risen,” he said. “‘Once in a generation’ heatwaves and flooding are becoming more regular.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/nov/14/2016-will-be-the-hottest-year-on-record-un-says

 

[Derwind]

Don't worry, it can get hotter.

 

[Nocebo]

This is terrible news. I feel we need a list of organizations that you can donate to in the OP of every thread like this.

Also it needs to permeate every form of media in order to become part of the collective mind.

Can't wait for all the "but but what about x, y and z" sarcastic jokes that will soon follow.

 

[nubbe]

I dunno
It is snowing outside at the moment

 

[Kinyou]

 

[Ray Wonder]

It's going down to 30 something this weeked

 

[DeviantBoi]

Thank you, Donald!

 

[iRAWRasaurus]

Don't worry, it's all a lie. You can't control the weather..

 

[MassiveNights]

Here are some stories from around the world about how climate change is already changing people's lives.

Nigeria

In the displacement camps of north-east Nigeria, most residents have the same answer for why 2.6 million people have been forced from their homes in this region. They are running from Boko Haram, the jihadist militants who still control significant parts of the Lake Chad basin.

But ask about how Boko Haram gained momentum in the first place, and a more complex narrative emerges. The extremists capitalised on high levels of local poverty, alienation and unemployment in north-east Nigeria. And that in turn, many local residents argue, was fuelled – in part – by the shrinking of Lake Chad, and the desertification of the surrounding area. With global temperatures soaring ever higher, it’s a trend unlikely to be reversed any time soon.

“It’s affected our livelihood, it’s affected farming and fishing,” says Mustapha Ali, a 50-year-old who grew up close to the lake’s former shores, and who is now living in a camp for internally displaced people. “We used to farm watermelon here, wheat, and rice – but because of the shrinkage of the lake, we can’t any more. Little by little it became harder and harder to [irrigate the] farm.”

Thailand

Thailand suffered its worst drought in two decades this year, focused in the country’s arid north-east where reservoirs are at record low levels.

Arkom Kammag, 37, grows figs and raspberries for a family business in Nakhon Ratchasima, one of the worst-hit provinces. The rainy season brought some relief this year but just ended, he said, and it started late. During the toughest months, mud – not water – was coming out of the taps.

“Trees were drying up and some grew really, really slowly,” he said. “It’s difficult to live in this kind of hot and dry weather.”

Kammag and his family used to stock up on fresh rainwater to drink but for the first time they’ve had to buy it. Resorting to underground wells after surface water dried up, he also ran an expensive pump for eight hours a day. Many farmers have been pushed into debt.

The world’s second-largest sugar and rice exporter, Thailand saw a cut in production for both crops after four consecutive years of below-average rainfall. The government has spent more than £500m to help farmers.

More in the link:

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ave-home-stories-from-the-worlds-hottest-year

 

[Thaedolus]

Gonna be 87 in Phoenix tomorrow. After a below average September, we are still almost hitting 90. It's nuts. A big factor in us looking to move back North in the next little bit.