It seems we haven't been imagining hotter temperatures in recent years.
A new report indicates the world may be experiencing the warmest decade in modern history,... posing a challenge to global efforts to curb global warming and the impact of climate change.
Oh Soo-young has more.
The planet could be heading towards the warmest decade on record.
According to scientists at the UK's Met Office, if temperatures continue to rise according to the forecasts for the next five years,... the decade stretching from 2014 to 2023 will be the hottest in more than 150 years.
In fact, figures show that 2018 was the fourth hottest year on record,... and the level of warming over the past four years is said to have been exceptional,... both on land and in the ocean.
The Met Office says 2019 is set to become the second warmest year on record,... predicting a one-point-one degree Celsius rise above the average for the late 20th century.
And from now until at least 2023,... average global temperatures are forecast to remain above that level.
With the possibility of a natural El Nino event raising temperatures further,... there's even a risk of the annual average global temperature hitting 1-point-five-seven degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
This would undermine the Paris Climate Agreement reached in 2015 which aims to limit the temperature increase to a 1-point-five-degree threshold.
In a separate report by NASA, scientists underscored concerns regarding the warming of the planet.
NASA's report says the impact of global warming can already be seen in coastal flooding, heatwaves, intense rain and changes in the ecosystem,... all of which have had damaging repercussions for many societies.
Oh Soo-young, Arirang News.
