The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the climate arm of the United Nations, said on Monday that climate change is occurring at an “alarming rate” and that world leaders must act to curb greenhouse gases now, “before we pass the point of no return.”
After 2015 broke all previous global average surface temperature records, WMO is releasing its State of the Climate report with the dire warning that the year “will stand out in the historical record of the global climate in many ways.”
“The alarming rate of change we are witnessing in our climate as a result of greenhouse gases is unprecedented in modern record,” WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas wrote in the report. “Our planet is sending a powerful message to world leaders to sign and implement the Paris agreement on climate change and curb greenhouse gases now before we pass the point of no return.”
According to Dr. Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, who spoke with the Guardian on Monday, the language of the report is unusually powerful for the WMO.