HOTTEST YEARS ON RECORD

Last year tied with 2005 and 1998 as the warmest on record, according to a ranking compiled by the U.N.’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) that points to a long-term warming trend. “The 2010 data confirm the long-term warming trend,” said WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud, saying the 10 warmest years on record had all been since 1998. The U.N. says human emissions of greenhouse gases are stoking climate changes that will bring more floods, droughts and rising sea levels.
The WMO draws on three main sources: the U.S. National Climatic Data Center, an office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Britain’s Met Office Hadley Centre and the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia (UEA).