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Global temperatures stay high in 2002 - UK |
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| UK: February 13, 2003 | ||
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LONDON - Global temperatures have kept rising and 2002 was one of the warmest years on record while many greenhouse gases reached their highest ever levels in 2001, a British government report said this week.
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Data analysed by the UK Meteorological Office's Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research found that last year joined 2001 and 1998 as the top three warmest since records began in 1860. "This report does show that the UK is making good progress to tackle its greenhouse gas emissions, but much more needs to be done if we are to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a safe level," Environment Minister Michael Meacher said in a statement. Scientists say greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, from vehicle and industry emissions, cause temperature increases by trapping the sun's heat in the atmosphere. Meacher said in a statement that Britain was on track to exceed its target under the United Nations Kyoto Protocol of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-2012. The report said the UK could still achieve its own higher target of a 23 percent cut. A government paper on the future of the energy sector is due in the next couple of months. A report last year advocated increasing energy from renewable sources to 20 percent by 2020 as a way of meeting climate goals. Climate change scenarios for the UK by the Hadley Centre suggest a future of hotter, drier summers and warmer, wetter winters.
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REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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