The year 2016 was dominated by heat waves and extreme weather conditions with the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) claiming that it was the hottest on record.
The average temperature was recorded at 1.1 degrees Centigrade (2 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than in pre-industrial times, the WMO said here on Wednesday.
The WMO said on Wednesday it combined data from NASA, the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the British Meteorological Office and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts to analyze the world temperatures.
In a statement, the American space agency said that 2016 was the third consecutive year that set a record for high global temperatures since record-keeping began in 1880.
"The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 2.0 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere," read the statement.
NASA said that weather phenomena like El Niño and La Niña also contributed to short-term differences in average temperatures.
WMO Secretary-General Petteri said the long-term indicators of human-influenced climate change also reached their highest levels in 2016, as did carbon dioxide and methane levels.
The high temperatures have also resulted in the lowest registered amounts of ice in the Arctic and Antarctic and the destruction of large areas of coral. who conduct regular patrols in a bid to secure northern Mali
