Climatologists announced this week that 2008 was the planet’s coolest year since 2000, but were quick to say that this does not eliminate the threat of global warming.

Dr. James Hansen, director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, said that the earth was cooler due in part to the sun passing through “solar minimum”.

Hansen, renowned for sounding the early alarm on climate change years ago, explained that since the sun is at its lowest point in the 10-12 year cycle, it is sending the a lower amount of energy which results in lower temperatures.

A pattern of La Nina winds in the Pacific also contributed to the cooler cycle.

Last year, GISS climatologists reported that 2007 was the second warmest year on record (tied with 1998). Hansen predicted that the overall warming trend of the last 30 years, attributed to man-made greenhouse gases, will continue.

Just the day before the announcement, the UN Environmental Programme reported  the planet is quickly approaching the tipping point for abrupt climate changes.

Urgent action is needed to avoid catastrophic climate elements that could lead to major food and water shortages. Shifts in weather patterns as well as the destabilization of major ice sheets are also predicted if immediate action is not taken.

Meanwhile, the World Bank presented its findings on Latin America. The experts also presented devastating news that the glaciers in the Andes mountain range may disappear with in the next 20 years unless the situation is somehow reversed.

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