UN Study Confirms Last Five Year Period Hottest Earth Temperature on Record

There is no denying the urgency of addressing the problem of global warming. The effects of this worldwide problem has long been felt; however, it is increasing in intensity and breadth over the last few years. According to studies, over one million species of animals have faced extinction as a direct result of global warming. Moreover, it is posited that 150,000 people would succumbed to the effects of the temperature rising across the globe.

Nevertheless, the statistics only keeps getting bleaker. Last November 8, 2016, the United Nations World Meteorological Organization or WMO published a report showcasing how the planet's global warming situation has only gotten worse in the last few years.

According to the study, the global average temperature between 2011 to 2015 is the hottest five-year period in recorded history while 2015 holds the title for the warmest year.

"This report confirms that the average temperature in 2015 had already reached the 1 degree-Celsius mark. We just had the hottest five-year period on record, with 2015 claiming the title of hottest individual year" explained WMO Secretary General Petteri Taalas.

The rising temperatures have given way to the increase in sea levels and the upwards trend of high-impact climate occurrences.

Between 2010 and 2015, catastrophic events have been attributed to climate change across the globe. From 2010 to 2012, 258,000 people from East Africa succumbed to the famine that resulted from a two year drought. In 2011, heat waves in India and Pakistan reached insurmountable extreme causing the deaths of over 4,000 citizens. More recently in 2013, 7,800 Filipinos were killed in the onslaught of Typhoon Haiyan.

Taalas warns that if measures from the Paris agreement are not taken to action, the problem of climate change and global warming can only worsen. "Even that record is likely to be beaten in 2016" explained Taalas.