Despite the lack
of an El Niño effect, 2017 is set to be the second or third hottest year on record; hurricanes unprecedented in their power pummelled the U.S. and Caribbean; the largest wildfires California has seen burned deep into the Northern Hemisphere winter; scientists warned the «Arctic
shows no
sign of returning to the reliably frozen region
of recent past decades»; studies revealed an ecological armageddon amongst insect populations; droughts fuelled famine and
insecurity across East Africa and the Middle East; the U.N. warned the number
of chronically undernourished people has risen for the first time since the turn
of the century due in large part to climate impacts.