2015 likely to be hottest year on record: WMO

2015 is very likely going to be the hottest year on record in the last 136 years with nine of the first 11 months breaking all records, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said today.
"We can't say definitively at this stage that 2015 will be the hottest one (year) on record - it hasn't ended yet - but it's very, very, very likely. We would really have to smash all low temperature records in December for it not to be the hottest year," said Clare Nullis, spokesperson of the WMO.
The December global temperatures would have to be 0.81 degrees celsius below average, colder than the current lowest temperature ever which was seen in December 1916, for 2015 not be the hottest year on record.

According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) January through November was the hottest period on record.
A very powerful El Nino is also responsible for the global shooting up of temperatures the effects of which will last into 2016, the WMO warned.
"We are seeing record sea temperatures and very, very warm land temperatures," Nullis said.

The November average global temperature across land and ocean surfaces was 0.97 degrees celsius above the 20th century average - the highest for any November between the period 1880 and 2015.
The November globally averaged sea temperature was 0.84 degrees celsius above the 20th century average - again, the highest for any November between 1880 and 2015.

The Arctic Report Card issued earlier this week by NOAA stated that the period between October 2014 and September 2015 saw the highest temperatures over the Arctic since records were kept beginning 1900.
Temperatures over the Arctic have risen by 2.9 degrees celsius since start of the 20th century.
"It's (temperature rise) really very rapid and widespread warming over the Arctic and its something we are obviously very acutely concerned about," Nullis said.