UN: 2013 extreme weather events due to warming earth

Much of the extreme weather in Europe, Asia, and the Pacific region last year can be blamed on human-induced climate change, the U.N. climate agency said Monday.In its annual assessment, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said 2013 was the sixth-warmest year on record. Thirteen of the 14 warmest years have occurred in the 21st century.“Many of the extreme events of 2013 were consistent with what we would expect as a result of human-induced climate change,” WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said in Geneva.A rise in sea levels is leading to increasing damage from storm surges and coastal flooding, as demonstrated by Typhoon Haiyan that hit the Philippines and Vietnam, killing at least 6,100 people and causing $13 billion in damage, Jarraud said. Meanwhile, Australia had its hottest year on record.Jarraud also cited other expensive weather disasters including $22 billion in damage from central European flooding in June, $10 billion in damage from Typhoon Fitow in China and Japan, and a $10 billion drought in much of China.