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As we approach the U.N. Summit in late September, weather presenters want to make it very clear to the world's leaders that climate change will be forcing them to make some very dire forecasts in the years to come.

A glimpse into the future of weather presenting drive home the urgent need for action on climate change


Scott Sutherland
Meteorologist/Science Writer

Tuesday, September 2, 2014, 12:49 PM - Climate change has been described as the biggest threat that humanity has ever faced, but sometimes it's hard to see the urgency of a threat that may take decades to affect us personally. However, thanks to weather presenters from around the world, the month of September is going to be dedicated to showing us just what we're in for, if we continue to delay our response to this threat.

Starting September 3, and for each weekday - from Monday to Friday - leading up to the Sept. 23 U.N. Summit in New York City, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) will be releasing a new forecast from the year 2050. Each weather presenter will be giving us the conditions expected in their region of the world - Brazil, Japan, Denmark, Zambia, Burkina Faso, the United States, etc. - each for a day in the life of the world to come.

Unfortunately, the news is anything but good. Droughts, heat waves, extreme storms and devastating floods represent just a taste of what we will be dealing with on a far-too-regular basis. This 'teaser' video, released by the WMO on Monday, gives a preview of what we can expect to see:


According to a U.N. statement issued on Monday, the year 2050 was chosen "as midway to the end of the century, when average global temperatures could have risen more than 4 degrees C (7.2 degrees F) if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase at the current rate."

"Climate change is affecting the weather everywhere. It makes it more extreme and disturbs established patterns. That means more disasters more uncertainty," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said in that statement.

WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud added that the weather forecasts presented in these videos are representative of the most up-to-date climate science projections.

"They paint a compelling picture of what life could be like on a warmer planet," Jarraud said. "Climate change is already leading to more extreme weather such as intense heat and rain. The 'abnormal' risks becoming the norm. We need to act now."

These videos, 14 in all, will be available on the WMO website (click here) or on their YouTube channel (click here).

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