The UN weather agency is warning of "fundamental change" afoot in the global climate and continued warming, accompanied recently by unusually high rainfall in parts of the US and Europe.
The World Meteorological Organisation was pointing today to data released by NASA a day earlier showing that this May was the hottest on record, and the Northern Hemisphere spring has been the hottest spring ever.
WMO global climate director Dr. David Carlson said the new data showed 370 straight months of warm or warmer-than-average temperatures worldwide.
WMO said the recent El Nino was only partly to blame for the recent temperature rise.
The agency noted that heat has been particularly high in the Arctic, and has caused an early onset of the annual melting of Arctic sea ice.
