Heat records set to be broken over next 5 yrs: WMO

THE REPORT SAID CONTINUED MONITORING IS NEEDED TO ADAPT TO THE GROWING IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

- Jayashree Nandi

NEW DELHI: There is an 80% chance that a year between 2025 and 2029 will be warmer than 2024, a new World Meteorological Organisation report has warned — a forecast that shouldn't exactly be news because the past 11 years are the 11 warmest on record since records begin in 1880. Last year was the warmest on record, and before it, 2023.

The report "WMO Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update (2025-2029)" has also projected that there is a 70% chance that the five-year average warming for 2025-2029 will surpass 1.5°C leading to frequent and severe heatwaves, droughts, and extreme weather events. This is up from the 47% probability flagged in last year's WMO report for 2024-2028 and 32% in the 2023 report for 2023-2027. The threshold is important because it is one of the goals of the Paris agreement.