Scientists revealed that global warming persists and human activities continued to contribute on the progress of climate change. This implied that climate changes will go on for centuries if left unresolved.
Michel Jarraud, head of the United Nation's (U.N.) World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said during his presentation in the WMO's annual review of the world's climate, the ocean temperatures were rapidly increasing. Extreme weather occurrences also showed climate change was inevitable in the coming years.
Evidences of it are seen in the rise in temperatures. The ocean surface and global land surface temperature in the past year, for instance, was 58.1 degrees Fahrenheit (14.5 degrees Celsius). It was higher by 0.90 degrees Fahrenheit (0.50 degrees Celsius) compared to the average temperature two to six decades ago.
Other evidences of the ongoing climate change are seen in droughts, heat waves, rising sea levels, and floods worldwide. However, some climate skeptics dispute that climate change occurs because of natural fluctuations and other causes.
Jarraud rejected those arguments telling Reuters, "There is no standstill in global warming."
"The warming of our oceans has accelerated, and at lower depths. More than 90 percent of the excess energy trapped by greenhouse gases is stored in the oceans. Levels of these greenhouse gases are at a record, meaning that our atmosphere and oceans will continue to warm for centuries to come. The laws of physics are non-negotiable," he added.
El Niño and La Niña are weather patterns that happen due to the temperature changes in the Pacific Ocean had always framed the global climate, bringing heat waves and disasters like floods and drought.
However, some of the extreme and disastrous events in 2013 "were consistent with what we would expect as a result of human-induced climate change," added Jarraud, citing the onslaught of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines as an example.
Another good example of man-made climate change was the winter freezes in Europe and the southeastern region of the United States, snowfall across the Middle East, and floods in northeast China.
