Extreme weather, natural disasters & water crises among top global risks in World Economic Forum report

Extreme weather events and natural disasters have been identified as the top two global risks most likely to happen in the next ten years, according to The Global Risks Report 2018published by the World Economic Forum to coincide with this week’s Davos summit.

In terms of greatest impact, together with the failure of climate-change mitigation and adaptation and water crises, environmental risks account for four out of five of the top global risks – weapons of mass destruction take the number one slot. Introducing the report, the World Economic Forum’s President  Børge Brende and Klaus Schwab Founder and Executive Chairman of WEF commented:

“Our hope is that this edition of the Global Risks Report and the debates it fosters at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2018 will focus minds on the need for systems thinking and new ways of collaborating globally and involving all stakeholders.” Click here to download the report 

2017 was the hottest year on record without El Niño boost

Guardian: 2017 was the hottest year since global records began that was not given an additional boost by the natural climate cycle El Niño, according to new data. Even without an El Niño, the year was still exceptionally hot, being one of the top three ever recorded. The three main global temperature records show the global surface temperature in 2017 was 1C above levels seen in pre-industrial times, with scientists certain that humanity’s fossil fuel-burning is to blame. The data, published on Thursday, means the last three years have been the hottest trio ever seen, with 2017 ranking second or third depending on the small differences between the temperature records. Furthermore, 17 of the 18 hottest years recorded since 1850 have occurred since 2000. 2017 also saw extreme weather events strike across the world, from hurricanes in the US and Caribbean to heatwaves in Australia and devastating floods in Asia. Many of these events have been shown to have been made much more likely by the heat resulting from global warming.