Global Warming

No standstill in global warming: 2014 will be world's hottest year ever

This year is set to be the hottest on record both in Britain and around the world, with climate scientists pointing to rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide as the most likely cause.

Records for January to October show that the global average air temperature over land and sea surface was about 0.57C above the average of 14C for the period between 1961 to 1990, and 0.09C above the average for the past 10 years, according to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO).

The global figures suggest that 2014 is set to become the hottest ever, beating the previous records of 2010, 2005 and 1998. Much of the extra warmth is being detected in the oceans, both at the surface and at deeper depths where the bulk of the extra heat is ending up.

Meanwhile the central England temperature record, which dates back to 1659 and is the longest set of instrumental records in the world, shows that 2014 is also set to be one of the warmest British years on record, according to the Met Office.

Every month of this year so far, except August, has seen above-average temperatures in the UK, and while no single month has set a new temperature record, the year as a whole has been consistently and unusually warm, the Met Office said.

Climate researchers will use the latest data to puncture the myth that global warming has stalled and will urge negotiators at the climate change negotiations in the Peruvian capital Lima to take note of what they see as incontrovertible evidence that the world is on path towards dangerous global warming.