2016 likely to be hottest year on record: World Meteorological Organization

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on 14 November 2016 announced that the year 2016 is very likely be the hottest year on record. It stated that 2016 will likely surpass the previous hottest year, 2015.

It was mentioned in the WMO’s preliminary assessment provided in its Status of the Global Climate in 2016 report.

Earlier in July 2016, the WMO had announced that Carbon dioxide concentrations passed the symbolic milestone of 400 parts per million in the atmosphere in the ongoing year.

Key highlights of the report

• The preliminary data from 2016 reveal that global temperatures are 1.2° Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

• The temperatures from January 2016 to September 2016 have been around 0.88° Celsius higher than the 14°C baseline set from 1961 to 1990.

• The rise in temperatures for the first months of the year was driven by a strong El Nino during 2015 and 2016.

• The extreme ocean heat by the El Nino had contributed to coral reef bleaching and above-average sea-level rise.

• The temperatures in many parts of Arctic Russia were 6°C to 7°C above the long-term average.

• Many other Arctic and sub-Arctic regions in Russia, Alaska and northwest Canada were at least 3°C above average.

• If the projections about 2016 turn out to be correct, then 16 of the 17 hottest years on record have been this century. The year 1998 was the other one.