03/12/2019 13:02
Climate change: Last decade 'almost certainly' warmest
Scientists are "almost certain" that the average temperatures from 2010-2019 make it the warmest decade on record.
Provisional figures released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) suggest this year is on course to be the second or third warmest year ever.
If those numbers hold, 2015-2019 would end up being the warmest five-year period in the record.
This "exceptional" global heat is driven by greenhouse gas emissions, the WMO says.
The organisation's State of the Global Climate report for 2019 covers the year up to October, when the global mean temperature for the period was 1.1 degrees C above the "baseline" level in 1850.
Many parts of the world experienced unusual levels of warmth this year. South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania were warmer than the recent average, while many parts of North America were colder than usual.