2015 is officially the hottest year on record according to NASA, news which the executive director of Greenpeace NZ calls “disturbing” for an island nation like New Zealand.
In the last couple of hours, climate experts from the space agency made the announcement about what they call “record-shattering” global temperatures in 2015.
Aftermath of a small tornado which ripped through Blaketown on the South Island’s West Coast
The analyses revealed 2015 was the warmest since record-keeping began, a change largely driven by human-made emissions, NASA says. Since the late-19th Century, the Earth has warmed about one degree Celsius.
Greenpeace’s Russel Norman says “John Key [NZ Prime Minister] is subsidising and encouraging new deep sea oil exploration. Even in the wake of the Paris climate conference, the Government is fawning over foreign oil companies and helping drive the very pollution that is threatening the places we live.
“Some of the first countries to bear the brunt of this warming will be the Pacific Islands. For New Zealand and our neighbours, NASA has delivered disturbing news.”
Norman says we can expect to see more extreme weather events such as storms, floods and droughts.
Extracted from Greenpeace NZ Press Release: http://www.greenpeace.org/new-zealand/en/press/Record-shattering-NASA-announcement-indicates-NZ-faces-extreme-weather-events/ – 21 January 2016