2016 hottest year on record, says World Meteorological Organisation

The year 2016 was the hottest on record, with an average temperature 1.1 degrees Centigrade (2 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than in pre-industrial times, the World Meteorological Organisation said.

The WMO said on Wednesday it combined data from NASA, the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the British Meteorological Office and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts to analyze the world temperatures.

In a statement, the American space agency said this was the third consecutive year that set a record for high global temperatures since record-keeping began in 1880, Efe news reported.

"The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 2.0 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere," read the statement.

NASA said weather phenomena like El Niño and La Niña also contributed to short-term differences in average temperatures.

WMO Secretary-General Petteri said the long-term indicators of human-influenced climate change also reached their highest levels in 2016, as did carbon dioxide and methane levels.

The high temperatures have also resulted in the lowest registered amounts of ice in the Arctic and Antarctic and the destruction of large areas of coral.

--IANS

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