April 2016 was hottest ever – UN

Global temperature records were broken yet again in April for the 12th consecutive month, the longest such streak since global record-taking began in 1880.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said yesterday that overall, 13 out of the 15 highest monthly temperature departures in the record have all occurred since February 2015, with the combined average temperature over global land and ocean surfaces for April 2016 measured at 1.10 degrees Celsius above the 20th century average of 13.7 degrees Celsius.

The figure is the highest temperature departure since in the 137-year record of the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“Another month, another record,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas. “The extraordinary heat that was recorded in 2015 pales by comparison to 2016. It is a combined effect of climate change and El Niño.”

“The rapid implementation of the Paris Climate Change agreement is taking on the utmost urgency, if the ambitious 1.5-2.0 degree Celsius targets would be reached,” he stressed.

He said that for the first time ever, carbon dioxide concentrations in the southern hemisphere have joined those in the northern hemisphere and passed the 400 parts per million (ppm) level, noting that they are likely to stay there.

“This is more than just a symbolic threshold. At the current rate of increase in CO2 levels, we are on track to reach the 2 degrees Celsius temperature limit within the next two generations,” he said