The World Meteorological Organisation has announced that, according to the data it’s collected so far this year, 2015 looks let to have the highest global average surface temperature on record.
In report published last night, the Organisation points out that it expects the temperature reach a symbolic high that is 1C above those recorded during the pre-industrial era. It claims that the high is caused by a combination of human-induced global warming and strong El Niño effects, and the data also confirms that the period 2011-2015 will be the warmest five-year period on record.
In a press release, the WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud points out that 2015 is a year chock-full of records, and ones we shouldn’t be particularly happy about:
“The state of the global climate in 2015 will make history as for a number of reasons. Levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached new highs and in the Northern hemisphere spring 2015 the three-month global average concentration of CO2 crossed the 400 parts per million barrier for the first time. 2015 is likely to be the hottest year on record, with ocean surface temperatures at the highest level since measurements began. It is probable that the 1°C Celsius threshold will be crossed. This is all bad news for the planet.”
Based on figures for January through October, the global average surface temperature for 2015 is around 0.73C above the 1961-1990 average of 14.0C. You can read a full analysis of the contributing effects here.
[World Meteorological Organisation]
Image by Ana Guzzo under Creative Commons licence