Earlier forecasts predicted a much steeper rise in global temperatures
But latest figures from Met Office show slower rise than previously warned
Figures raise questions about the true danger posed by greenhouse gasses
By NICK MCDERMOTT
PUBLISHED: 18:26 GMT, 8 January 2013 | UPDATED: 22:55 GMT, 8 January 2013
The Met Office has admitted that global warming has stalled.
Officials say that by 2017, temperatures will not have risen significantly for nearly 20 years.
They concede that previous forecasts were inaccurate – and have come under fire for attempting to ‘bury bad news’ by publishing the revised data on Christmas Eve.
Now a press release, published yesterday, has confirmed that over the next five years temperatures will be 0.43 degrees above the 1971-2000 average, instead of the previously forecast 0.54 degrees – a 20 per cent reduction.
This rise would be only slightly higher than the 0.4-degree rise recorded in 1998, an increase which is itself attributed by forecasters to an exceptional weather phenomenon.
With all but 0.03 degrees of the increase having occurred by 1998, the revision means that no further significant increases to the planet’s temperature are expected over the next few years.