2016 Likely to Be Hottest Year On Record, WMO

Marrakesh, 14/11/2016 (MAP) – It is very likely that 2016 will be the hottest year on record, with global temperatures even higher than the record-breaking temperatures in 2015, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) announced on Monday in Marrakesh.

Preliminary data shows that 2016’s global temperatures are approximately 1.2° Celsius above pre-industrial levels, said WMO in a statement presented as part of the COP22.

Preliminary data for October indicate that they are at a sufficiently high level for 2016 to remain on track for the title of hottest year on record. This would mean that 16 of the 17 hottest years on record have been this century, it added.

The deadliest event so far in 2016 has been Hurricane Matthew, which was Haiti’s worst humanitarian emergency since the 2010 earthquake. Throughout the year, extreme weather led to considerable socio-economic losses in all regions of the world, it noted.

“Another year. Another record. The high temperatures we saw in 2015 are set to be beaten in 2016,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. “The extra heat from the powerful El Niño event has disappeared. The heat from global warming will continue,” he said.