2014-2019 was the hottest five-year period on record.

The impacts of global heating are accelerating, according to data that has just been released. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) compiled the data ahead of key United Nations talks about climate change in New York. According to the BBC, it showed that the five-year period from 2014 to 2019 is the warmest on record. The data also said that global temperatures have gone up by 0.2C between 2011 and 2015. As well as findings on global temperatures, there was also worrying statistics regarding the rise of sea levels. "Sea-level rise has accelerated and we are concerned that an abrupt decline in the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, which will exacerbate future rise," said WMO secretary general Petteri Taalas. "As we have seen this year with tragic effect in the Bahamas and Mozambique, sea-level rise and intense tropical storms led to humanitarian and economic catastrophes." It found that the average rate of rise since 1993 until now is 3.2 millimetres per year. However, from May 2014 to 2019 the rise has increased to 5 millimetres per year. The 10-year period from 2007-2016 saw an average of about 4 millimetres per year. Earlier in the year, Ireland became only the second country to declare a climate emergency.