Earth shattering record heat levels

Weather havoc as heatwaves will become normal

- DANNY HALPIN

THERE is now a 98% chance that one of the next five years will be the warmest year on record for the globe, warn scientists.

For the first time ever, global temperatures are now more likely than not to breach 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming within the same period.

That is the finding from the World Meteorological Organization's (WMO) latest report, which has been produced by the Met Office.

With a 66% chance of temporarily reaching 1.5C by 2027, "it's the first time in history that it's more likely than not that we will exceed 1.5C," said Adam Scaife, head of long-range prediction at Britain's Met Office Hadley Centre, who worked on the WMO's latest Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update.

In contrast, last year's report only put the odds at about 50-50.

Dr Leon Hermanson, from the Met Office, said: "These new highs will be fuelled almost completely by the rise of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but the anticipated development of the naturally- occurring El Nino event will also release heat from the tropical Pacific."