The past eight years have been the warmest on record in the world, according to a statement released by the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on the organization’s website.
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The average global temperature in 2022 was about 1.15 (1.02-1.27) °C above pre-industrial levels (1850-1900). 2022 is the eighth year in a row (2015-2022) when annual global temperatures reach at least 1°C above pre-industrial levels, with 2015 to 2022 being the eight warmest years on record.
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WMO clarifies that 2022 was not the warmest year on record due to a cold snap in La Niña, which is now in its third year.
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“Global warming and other long-term climate change trends are expected to continue due to record levels of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere,” the statement added.
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La Niña refers to a wide-ranging cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific combined with changes in tropical atmospheric circulation. La Niña has a temporary global cooling.
Earlier, the European Earth Observation Program Copernicus reported that the summer of 2022 for the European continent was the hottest in history. The highest temperatures have been recorded in France, Portugal, Ireland, Sweden and the United Kingdom, among others.
