The world is "way off track" from meeting targets to limit global warming as the signs of a climate emergency grow more damaging, the United Nations has warned.

Increasing heat, accelerating sea level rises, and extreme weather in 2019 were all indications of the impact of failing to rein in carbon emissions, said a report compiled by the UN's World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

The agency warned urgent and far-reaching climate action was needed if the world was to limit global warming to 1.5C or 2C, as required under the international Paris Agreement on climate change.

Last year was the second hottest year on record, with a global average temperature of 1.1C above pre-industrial levels, the report confirms.

The years from 2015 to 2019 were the five warmest on record and the last decade was the hottest since records began in the 19th century.

Climate change in the world's fastest-warming town Show all 18 1 /18 Climate change in the world's fastest-warming town Climate change in the world's fastest-warming town Husky dogs pull musher Audun Salte through the town of Longyearbyen in Svalbard, Norway. Salte worries that as temperatures warm, climate change could lead to the extinction of all life on Earth. A man who likes kissing and dancing with his dogs, he has 110 of them, is concerned most about the non-humans on the planet. "If climate change should be the end of humanity, I really don't care, but if climate change is the end of any animal species who hasn't contributed anything towards the speeding up of this process, that's why I am reacting," he said. "On the highway, when people slow down to look at a car crash, climate change is like that because everyone is slowing down to look at the accident but not realising that we are actually the car crash." Reuters/Hannah McKay Climate change in the world's fastest-warming town A reindeer grazes on land. Since 1970, average annual temperatures have risen by 4 degrees Celsius in Svalbard, with winter temperatures rising more than 7 degrees, according to a report released by the Norwegian Centre for Climate Services in February. Reuters/Hannah McKay Climate change in the world's fastest-warming town The Wahlenberg Glacier in Oscar II land Reuters/Hannah McKay Climate change in the world's fastest-warming town Audun Salte prepares his huskies for sledding Reuters/Hannah McKay Climate change in the world's fastest-warming town The town of Longyearbyen in the late evening light Reuters/Hannah McKay Climate change in the world's fastest-warming town Husky dogs relax ahead of sledding Reuters/Hannah McKay Climate change in the world's fastest-warming town International director of the Norwegian Polar Institute, Kim Holmen, relaxes with a cup of tea as he travels past the Wahlenberg Glacier. Holmen has lived in the northern Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard for three decades. He describes the changes he's seen as "profound, large and rapid." "We are losing the Svalbard we know. We are losing the Arctic as we know it because of climate change," he said. "This is a forewarning of all the hardship and problems that will spread around the planet." Reuters/Hannah McKay Climate change in the world's fastest-warming town A sign warns of the danger from polar bears Reuters/Hannah McKay Climate change in the world's fastest-warming town A woman poses next to a polar bear mural in town Reuters/Hannah McKay Climate change in the world's fastest-warming town An iceberg floats near the Wahlenberg Glacier Reuters/Hannah McKay Climate change in the world's fastest-warming town Wieslaw Sawicki holds a photograph of his son 44-year-old Michal Sawicki who was killed by an avalanche in Svalbard earlier this year. He worked as a geophysicist at the Polish Polar Research Station in Hornsund on the southern side of Svalbard. The Polish scientist and meteorologist Anna Gorska died when they fell from a mountain in May. Sawicki was an experienced mountaineer, scientist and explorer on his fifth stint for the institute in the Arctic. "Unfortunately, there was a huge snow cornice which looked like it was part of the peak of the mountain," said his father Wieslaw Sawicki, who was visiting Longyearbyen to meet with the governor of the archipelago. "It collapsed with them; they both fell into the abyss." Reuters/Hannah McKay Climate change in the world's fastest-warming town Christiane Huebner plays with her dog Svea Reuters/Hannah McKay Climate change in the world's fastest-warming town A pile of antlers on a ski sled Reuters/Hannah McKay Climate change in the world's fastest-warming town An aerial view shows snow-covered mountains in Svalbard, Norway, August 3, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay SEARCH "SVALBARD CLIMATE" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. HANNAH MCKAY Reuters/Hannah McKay Climate change in the world's fastest-warming town White wooden gravestones at risk of landslides due to the thawing permafrost underneath the ground, stand at the side of a mountain in the Longyearbyen cemetery Reuters/Hannah McKay Climate change in the world's fastest-warming town A man looks at rugs for sale in a store in town Reuters/Hannah McKay Climate change in the world's fastest-warming town A miner works inside the Gruve 7 mine, the only remaining operational coal mine on Svalbard Reuters/Hannah McKay Climate change in the world's fastest-warming town Children play at the skatepark in town Reuters/Hannah McKay

Each decade since the 1980s has been hotter than any preceding decade stretching back to 1850, according to the WMO’s report, which has input from national meteorological services, international experts, scientific institutions and other UN agencies.

Those trends have continued in 2020. January was the warmest on record globally and Europe saw “by far” its hottest winter to date, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

New temperature highs have been reported in Antarctica, along with large-scale ice melts and a fracturing glacier which will have "repercussions for sea level rise", WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas warned.

Under the Paris Agreement, countries are expected to increase their action this year to tackle greenhouse gas emissions to prevent the worst impacts of global warming.

In a foreword to the report, UN secretary general Antonio Guterres said: "We are currently way off track to meeting either the 1.5C or 2C targets that the Paris Agreement calls for.

"This report outlines the latest science and illustrates the urgency for far-reaching climate action."

Prof Taalas said: "Given that greenhouse gas levels continue to increase, the warming will continue."

He added it was an only matter of time before the world a new record hot year – with predictions it will come within five years.

Alongside temperature increases, rainfall changes are having a major impact on several countries and sea levels are rising at an increasing pace, exposing coastal areas and islands to a greater risk of flooding and submersion, the report said.

Preliminary data indicates greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere continued to rise in 2019, and carbon emissions from global fossil fuels grew 0.6 per cent last year.

The report detailed the harmful impacts on people and wildlife caused by surging temperatures across the world.

There were two major heatwaves in Europe, in June and July, with new national temperature records set in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France.

Climate change is facilitating the spread of dengue fever, with around half the world population now at risk of infection and a large increase in cases in 2019, the report noted.

World hunger is on the rise again, and an estimated 22 million people worldwide were forced to leave their homes by events such as floods and storms, the WMO added.

Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures California In this decade, humans have become ever more aware of climate change. Calls for leaders to act echo around the globe as the signs of a changing climate become ever more difficult to ignore Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Athens, Greece Fierce wildfires have flared up in numerous countries. The damage being caused is unprecedented: 103 people were killed in wildfires last year in California, one of the places best prepared, best equipped to fight such blazes in the world AFP/Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Redding, California Entire towns have been razed. The towns of Redding and Paradise in California were all but eliminated in the 2018 season AP Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Athens, Greece While wildfires in Greece (pictured), Australia, Indonesia and many other countries have wrought chaos to infrastructure, economies and cost lives AFP/Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Carlisle, England In Britain, flooding has become commonplace. Extreme downpours in Carlisle in the winter of 2015 saw the previous record flood level being eclipsed by two feet AFP/Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Hebden Bridge, England Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire has flooded repeatedly in the past decade, with the worst coming on Christmas Day 2015. Toby Smith of Climate Visuals, an organisation focused on improving how climate change is depicted in the media, says: "Extreme weather and flooding, has and will become more frequent due to climate change. An increase in the severity and distribution of press images, reports and media coverage across the nation has localised the issue. It has raised our emotions, perception and personalised the effects and hazards of climate change." Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Somerset, England Out west in Somerset, floods in 2013 led to entire villages being cut off and isolated for weeks Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Dumfries, Scotland "In summer 2012, intense rain flooded over 8000 properties. In 2013, storms and coastal surges combined catastrophically with elevated sea levels whilst December 2015, was the wettest month ever recorded. Major flooding events continued through the decade with the UK government declaring flooding as one of the nation's major threats in 2017," says Mr Smith of Climate Visuals Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures London, England Weather has been more extreme in Britain in recent years. The 'Beast from the East' which arrived in February 2018 brought extraordinarily cold temperatures and high snowfall. Central London (pictured), where the city bustle tends to mean that snow doesn't even settle, was covered in inches of snow for day PA Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures London, England Months after the cold snap, a heatwave struck Britain, rendering the normally plush green of England's parks in Summer a parched brown for weeks AFP/Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures New South Wales, Australia Worsening droughts in many countries have been disastrous for crop yields and have threatened livestock. In Australia, where a brutal drought persisted for months last year, farmers have suffered from mental health problems because of the threat to their livelihood Reuters Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Tonle Sap, Cambodia Even dedicated climate skeptic Jeremy Clarkson has come to recognise the threat of climate change after visiting the Tonle Sap lake system in Cambodia. Over a million people rely on the water of Tonle Sap for work and sustinence but, as Mr Clarkson witnessed, a drought has severley depleted the water level Carlo Frem/Amazon Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Addis Ababa, Ethiopia In reaction to these harbingers of climate obliteration, some humans have taken measures to counter the impending disaster. Ethiopia recently planted a reported 350 million trees in a single day AFP/Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Morocco Morocco has undertaken the most ambitious solar power scheme in the world, recently completing a solar plant the size of San Francisco AFP/Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures London, England Electric cars are taking off as a viable alternative to fossil fuel burning vehicles and major cities across the world are adding charging points to accomodate AFP/Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Purmerend, The Netherlands Cities around the world are embracing cycling too, as a clean (and healthy) mode of transport. The Netherlands continues to lead the way with bikes far outnumbering people Jeroen Much/Andras Schuh Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Xiamen, China Cycling infrastructure is taking over cities the world over, in the hope of reducing society's dependency on polluting vehicles Ma Weiwei Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Chennai, India Despite positive steps being taken, humans continue to have a wildly adverse effect on the climate. There have been numerous major oil spills this decade, the most notable being the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 AFP/Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures Amazon rainforest, Brazil More recently, large swathes of the Amazon rainforest were set alight by people to clear land for agriculture AFP/Getty Climate change: Decade's defining issue in pictures California This decade may have seen horrors but it has led to an understanding that the next decade must see change if human life is to continue Getty

The contiguous US – excluding Alaska, Hawaii and other islands – experienced the highest 12-month rainfall on record from July 2018 to June 2019, and flooding cost the country an estimated $20bn (£15bn) last year.

Drought or low rainfall hit many parts of the world, including Australia, which also saw its hottest year and December on record and an exceptionally long and severe season of wildfires.

Some parts of the Arctic also burned in wildfires – an extremely rare occurrence – and sea ice in the region continued to decline.

The Greenland ice sheet lost 329 billion tonnes of ice in 2019, well above the average for recent years, and glaciers continue to melt.

Sea levels rose to record highs last year, and at least 84 per cent of the oceans experienced at least one marine heatwave.

Warming ocean temperatures, along with more acidic water and lower oxygen levels, are having an impact on marine wildlife and habitats such as coral, the report said.