Average global temperatures are forecast to reach near-record levels in the next five years, with Arctic temperatures expected to warm faster than other regions, a report by the UN weather agency and the UK’s Met Office said on Thursday.The annual report which gives regional predictions for temperatures and rain predicts that annual global mean near-surface temperatures will range between 1.3 degrees Celsius and 1.9C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial period.
"There's very clear evidence that the climate is warming and that the global average temperature is continuing to rise," Melissa Seabrook, a research scientist at the UK Met Office, told Reuters.
In the 2015 Paris Agreement, governments promised to try to prevent the average global temperature rise from exceeding 1.5C above pre-industrial levels – above which severe climate events were seen growing in intensity.
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The report said it is very likely that the global mean near-surface temperature will temporarily exceed 1.5C above the 1850-1900 average levels for at least one year between 2026 and 2030.
