The global average air temperature over land and sea surface i the first 10 months of this year was about 0.57 degree Centigrade (1.03 Fahrenheit) above the average of 14 C (57.2 F) tallied in the 1961-1990 reference period, and 0.09 C (0.16 F) above the average for the 2004-2013 period, the WMO said.
"If November and December maintain the same tendency, then 2014 will likely be the hottest on record, ahead of 2010, 2005 and 1998," it said.
“The provisional information for 2014 means that 14 of the 15 warmest years on record have all occurred in the 21st century,” said WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud. “There is no standstill in global warming,” he said.
Last month, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said Earth had its warmest October on record. The October temperature averaged 14.74 degrees Celsius (58.43 Fahrenheit), 0.01 C (0.02 F) above the next warmest year (in records dating back to 1880).
In October, the NOAA published a chart indicating the global temperature for the remaining three months of the year need only average among the top 10 warmest for 2014 to be the warmest year on record, according to the Washington Post.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
