UN Analysis: Past Five Years Hottest Ever Recorded

New detailed analysis regarding the global climate showed that the years 2011 up to 2015 have been the hottest ever in recorded history -- and it is only going to get worse.

The United Nations weather agency found that this increasingly visible footprint on extreme weather and climate events could potentially be dangerous, with a costly impact overall: the record temperatures also came with it rising sea levels and Arctic sea-ice declines.

WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas said in a news release, "This report confirms that the average temperature in 2015 had already reached the 1 degree-Celsius mark. We just had the hottest five-year period on record, with 2015 claiming the title of hottest individual year."

Among the high-impact climate events are the following: the East African drought of 2010-2012; the Southern African drought of 2013-2015; the South-East Asian floods of 2011; Hurricane Sandy in 2012; the heatwaves in India and Pakistan in 2015; and Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

The WMO also noted that the five-year time scale allows for a better understanding of the warming trends and extreme events around the globe, including prolonged droughts and recurrent heat waves. This puts the Paris Agreement in perspective. The treaty aims to lift global temperature increase to below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, but it may be too late.

As Taalas put it, "This report confirms that the average temperature in 2015 had already reached the 1 degree C mark. We just had the hottest five-year period on record, with 2015 claiming the title of hottest individual year. Even that record is likely to be beaten in 2016."

BBC News noted that the rise in temperature is linked to the increase of greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere, with the increased risks of heatwaves, drought, record rainfall and widespread ice melt -- the effects of climate change that have been visible on a global scale since the 1980s.