2016 was the hottest year ever recorded: WMO

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in January 2017 announced that the year 2016 was recorded as the hottest year ever.

As per a consolidated analysis by WMO, the globally averaged temperature in 2016 was about 1.1 degree Celsius higher than the pre-industrial period.

The WMO used data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the UK’s Met Office Hadley Centre and the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit.

The UN weather agency also drew on reanalysis data from the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts and the Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Key highlights

• The year 2016 saw long-term indicators of human-caused climate change reaching new heights. Carbon dioxide and methane concentrations surged to new records.

• Greenland glacier melt started early and fast in the year 2016, which is one of the contributors to sea level rise.

• Arctic sea ice was recorded lowest at the start of the melt season in March 2016 and at the height of the normal refreezing period in October 2016 and November 2016.

• The continual loss of sea ice is making the weather, climate and ocean circulation patterns go haywire in other parts of the world.

• Record ocean heat contributed to widespread coral reef bleaching, including in the Great Barrier Reef.

About World Meteorological Organization

• The World Meteorological Organization is an intergovernmental organization.

• It has membership of 191 Member States and Territories.

• The WMO originated from the International Meteorological Organization, which was instituted in 1873.

• It was established in 1950.

• It is the specialised agency of the United Nations for meteorology, operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences.

• It headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland.

• David Grimes is the current President of the Organization.