Temperatures, sea levels and greenhouse gas emissions reached record highs last year, making 2015 the worst year in modern history for a number of key indicators, reveals an international report said on Tuesday.
Melting glaciers, droughts, floods ... The annual report on the climate of the state ( "State of the Climate") paints a bleak picture of the Earth in a 300-page document in which 450 scientists participated.
"Several indicators such as temperatures on land, the ocean surface and the greenhouse gas emissions hit record registered only a year ago," experts warn.
"Most climate change indicators continued to show a global warming trend", which recorded heat record for the second consecutive year, according to the report.
The weather phenomenon El Niño, particularly strong in 2015, "exacerbated" the overheating trend last year, added the scientists.
"Under the combined effect of El Niño and a long-term warming trend, the Earth recorded heat record for the second consecutive year."
record rain
The three concentrations of the main greenhouse gases that cause the greenhouse effect, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide, "reached new records in 2015," states the document, which is based on tens of thousands of data extracted from various sources independent.
In Hawaii, the volcano Mauna Loa, the carbon dioxide concentration recorded "the largest increase since the start of data collection, 50 years ago," which has overcome the first time the symbolic bar 400 parts per million (ppm) to 400.8 ppm.
Across the globe, the CO2 approached this threshold in 2015, reaching 399.4 ppm, an increase of 2.2 ppm in relation to 2014.
The oceans have reached their highest level, with about 70 mm more than the average recorded in 1993.
The sea level rises gradually on earth, with an increase of about 3.3 millimeters per year, but the increase is faster at certain points of the Pacific and the Indian Ocean.
This phenomenon could accelerate in the coming decades as glaciers and icebergs melt, threatening the lives of millions of inhabitants of coastal areas.
The year 2015 also marked a season of more abundant rainfall than average, causing serious flooding.
Severe droughts have also affected surfaces nearly two times higher in 2015 than in the previous year (14% versus 8% in 2014).
Propagation of algae
The Arctic, a particularly sensitive area of climate change, continues to suffer from the heat.
"The temperature at the Earth's surface of the Arctic recorded levels achieved in 2007 and 2011, which were record from the beginning of the measurements in the early twentieth century, an increase of 2.8 degrees Celsius since that time," the report said.
On the other hand, the cooler temperatures were in Antarctica.
In the world, the retreat of glaciers in the alpine massifs continued for 36th consecutive year.
The warmer water aggravated the phenomenon of the spread of the algae, which affected last year an important North Pacific, from California to British Columbia, Canada, with "significant effects on marine life, coastal resources and people They depend on these resources. "
The hurricane season in the Atlantic was particularly moderate for the second consecutive year, largely as a result of El Niño, although the number of tropical cyclones "has been well above the global average."
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