Last seven years on track to be hottest on record: UN

The years from 2015 to 2021 are on track to be the seven hottest on record, the World Meteorological Organization said on Sunday, warning that the planet was heading into "uncharted territory". 

The preliminary WMO state of the climate report, launched as the UN COP26 climate conference opens, said that global warming from greenhouse gas emissions threatens "far-reaching repercussions for current and future generations". 

Based on data for the first nine months of the year, the WMO said 2021 was likely to be between the fifth and seventh warmest year on record -- despite the cooling effect of the La Nina phenomenon that lowered temperatures at the beginning of the year.

"From the ocean depths to mountain tops, from melting glaciers to relentless extreme weather events, ecosystems and communities around the globe are being devastated," said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a statement on the report.

He added that the two-week COP26 climate conference "must be a turning point for people and planet".

The WMO found that the average temperature for 2021 was around 1.09 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels.   

And the average temperature over the last 20 years (2002-2021) for the first time exceeded the symbolic threshold of 1C above the mid-19th century, when humans began burning fossil fuels on an industrial scale.

This will "focus the minds of delegates at COP26 aspiring to keep global temperature rise to within the limits agreed in Paris six years ago", said Stephen Belcher, chief scientist at Britain's Met Office.