Geneva [Switzerland], June 6: Each of the past 12 months ranked as the warmest on record in year-on-year comparisons, the EU's climate change monitoring service said on Wednesday, as U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for urgent action to avert "climate hell".
The average global temperature for the 12-month period to the end of May was 1.63 degrees Celsius (2.9 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial average - making it the warmest such period since record-keeping began in 1940, the Copernicus Climate Change Service said.
This 12-month average does not mean that the world has yet surpassed the 1.5 C (2.7 F) global warming threshold, which describes a temperature average over decades, beyond which scientists warn of more extreme and irreversible impacts.
In a separate report, the U.N.'s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said there is now an 80% chance that at least one of the next five years will mark the first calendar year with an average temperature that temporarily exceeds 1.5C above pre-industrial levels - up from a 66% chance last year.
Speaking about the findings, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres emphasized how quickly the world was heading in the wrong direction and away from stabilizing its climate system.
With time running out to reverse course, Guterres urged a 30% cut in global fossil fuel production and use by 2030.
Source: Fijian Broadcasting Corporation