COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - This year is likely to be the fifth warmest on record and the first decade of this century the hottest since records began, the World Meteorological Organization said on Tuesday.
The hottest year was in 1998, largely owing to a powerful El Nino weather pattern, which drives abnormal warming in the eastern Pacific Ocean and can unleash wider havoc in weather worldwide.
A new El Nino has developed this year, partly explaining the rise in temperatures. 2008 was the eleventh hottest year.
