Extreme weather has been one of the signs of climate change across the world.

By the end of 2010, the world will have seen its warmest decade since records began in 1850, according to new figures released today at the 15th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15).

New figures released today in Copenhagen show that the last ten years have clearly been the warmest period in the 160-year record of global surface temperature, despite 1998 being the warmest individual year.

The data, maintained jointly by the Met Office Hadley Centre and the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, has been released as negotiators at the two-week talks work to craft a global deal to step up efforts to stem climate change. 

Similar results are revealed in the independent analyses made by the United State National Climatic Data Center and NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies.

According to the Met Office, “These figures highlight that the world continues to see global temperature rise, most of which is due to increasing emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and clearly shows that the argument that global warming has stopped is flawed.”

Furthermore, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has today also revealed that 2009 looks set to become another top-ten warm year according to latest figures, with a provisional warming of 0.44 °C above the long-term average of 14.0 °C.

It will be warmer than 2008 because of the emergence of El Nino weather patterns in the Pacific Ocean which contribute to warmer temperatures. Extreme climatic events including devastating floods, severe droughts, snowstorms and heat waves were also recorded in many parts of the world.

The conference will be the largest international political conference ever held in Denmark with participants from 192 countries representing governments, the business community, and civil society. Approximately 15,000 participants are expected at the event, which runs from 7 to 18 December 2009.

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