Thirteen of last 15 years warmest on record: UN

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(AFP)

29 November 2011, 1:09 PM

DURBAN, South Africa — Thirteen of the warmest years recorded have occurred within the last decade and a half, the UN’s World Meteorological Organisation said on Tuesday.

The year 2011 caps a decade that ties the record as the hottest ever measured, the WMO said in its annual report on climate trends and extreme weather events, unveiled at UN climate talks in Durban, South Africa.

‘Our science is solid and it proves unequivocally that the world is warming and that this warming is due to human activities,’ WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said in a statement, adding that policy makers should take note of the findings.

‘Concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have reached new highs and are very rapidly approaching levels consistent with a 2 to 2.4 Celsius rise in average global temperatures.’