The Last Decade Brought 'Unprecedented' Climate Change, Says the UN

If you think the last decade was either too hot or too cold, turns out you're right. A new U.N. report carried out by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on the global climate from 2001 to 2010 states that more temperature records were broken in the last decade than any other time in recorded history.

"Rising concentrations of heat-trapping greenhouse gases are changing our climate, with far reaching implications for our environment and our oceans, which are absorbing both carbon dioxide and heat," said WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud.

The last decade, according to the report, was the warmest around the world, both on land and in the ocean, ever since temperature recording began in 1850. The result? A rapid melting of ice caps, causing surges of water around the world. 

As a result of the extreme climate changes, floods, droughts and cyclones resulted in a 20 percent increase in deaths caused by these disasters from the last decade for a total of 370,000 deaths.

The report has scientists urging nations and policy makers to pay more attention to the rising cost of inattention.

"We are already seeing the effects of climate change and so we need to take action through the use of scientifically-based climate services to cushion the impact on our environment, our economies and our societies," said Mr. Jarraud.

"Decisions on flood defenses and dams, for instance, are often based on past experience and not on the likely future. But the past climate is no longer a sufficient guide to the future. We need to anticipate the climate we shall have in the next 50 to 100 years," he said. "It's a huge challenge but it's not a hopeless challenge if we all work together."

With 500 cyclone-related disasters costing the world $380 billion and affecting 250 million people, scientists are now convening in Geneva for the first session of the Intergovernmental Board on Climate Services, which runs from July 1-5, where they hope to discuss how communities can begin preparing themselves for inevitable long-term climate change.