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The World Meteorological Organization has released a report stating that “the global average surface temperature in 2015 is likely to be the warmest on record and to reach the symbolic and significant milestone of 1° Celsius above the pre-industrial era”.
Prof. Richard Betts, Head of Climate Impacts Research at the Met Office Hadley Centre, said:
“These records are a reminder of ongoing climate change. The round numbers of 1 degree C global warming and 400ppm CO2 are not in themselves physically significant, but like birthdays or anniversaries, such numbers are iconic milestones marking ongoing change – although in this case these milestones are not reasons to celebrate.”
Dr Paul Williams, climate scientist at the University of Reading, said:
“What would it take for climate scientists to be wrong about how the world has been warming? All the thermometer readings, satellite observations, tree rings, ice cores, and sea-level records would have to be wrong. These individual records taken on their own aren’t perfect, but the likelihood of them all being wrong together in the same way is so small that we can safely rule it out.”
Prof. David Reay, Professor of Carbon Management at the University of Edinburgh, said:
“Climate records have been broken with such frequency in recent years that it is easy to overlook what a significant year 2015 has been. The history books will tell its tale of threshold-busting carbon dioxide levels and extreme temperatures. Whether the final chapter for 2015 will include a more positive footnote is now all down to Paris.”
Dr Ilan Kelman, from the UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction, said:
“We must never forget that, while climate change influences some hazards such as tropical cyclones, disasters are caused by human decisions leading to vulnerability. Irrespective of climate change and its influences on weather, we can and should reduce vulnerability in order to reduce disaster losses.”
Dr Ed Hawkins, climate scientist at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), University of Reading, said:
“The fingerprint of a warming planet is becoming clearer in nearly every corner of the world. Moreover, 2015 is not just a one off, as indicated by the last five years average also being the warmest on record.
“In the UK, our variable weather means that 2015 will not set any records for warmth but the longer view shows UK temperatures have risen about 20% faster than the global average. We can expect this faster rate to continue in future.
“Everything the latest figures show reinforces what climate scientists have always said – that heat is continuing to build up in the atmosphere and oceans. Satellite measurements show that the greenhouse gases already emitted are trapping the equivalent of half a days’ worth of the sun’s energy every year.”
Prof. Meric Srokosz, from the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, said:
“We continue to see changes in ocean temperature and heat content that are consistent with human-induced global warming. There are no surprises here, just a reminder that the Earth is warming and we need to do something about it.”
Declared interests
None declared