UN
weather agency: decade likely warmest on record
This
decade has very likely been the warmest in the historical
record, and 2009 will probably end up as one of the warmest
years, the UN weather agency announced Tuesday at the second
day of the 192-nation climate conference in Copenhagen.
08/12/2009 12:40 - In some areas — parts of Africa,
central Asia — this will probably be the warmest year,
but overall 2009 "is likely to be about the fifth-warmest
year on record," said Michel Jarraud, secretary-general
of the World Meteorological Organization.
The
decade 2000-2009 "is very likely to be the warmest
on record, warmer than the 1990s, than the 1980s and so
on," Jarraud said.
The
data were released as negotiators at the two-week talks
worked to craft a global deal to step up efforts to stem
climate change. On Tuesday, delegates were digging into
the dense technicalities of "metrics" and "gas
inventories," as governments jockeyed for position
leading up to the finale late next week, when more than
100 national leaders will converge on Copenhagen for the
final days of bargaining.
The
European Union has pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
by 20 percent by 2020, compared with 1990, and is considering
raising that to 30 percent if other governments also aim
high. Government leaders will have an opportunity to make
such a move at an EU summit this Thursday and Friday in
Brussels.
On
Monday, when the climate conference opened, the Obama administration
gave the talks a boost by announcing steps that could lead
to new U.S. emissions controls that don't require the approval
of the US Congress.
Da
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
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