Past decade confirmed as warmest on record

The past decade was the warmest on record, scientists have confirmed.

NASA and NOAA said that 2019 was the second-warmest year for the planet since records began in 1850.

Only 2016 was warmer, a year affected by a significant El Nino event.

The Met Office said 2019 was the third-warmest.

The last five years were the warmest since records began, data show.

“Each decade from the 1980s has been successively warmer than all the decades that came before. 2019 concludes the warmest ‘cardinal’ decade (those spanning years ending 0-9) in records that stretch back to the mid-19th century,” Dr Colin Morice of the Met Office Hadley Centre said.

“While we expect global mean temperatures to continue to rise in general, we don’t expect to see year-on-year increases because of the influence of natural variability in the climate system.”

The data also show that Australia experienced its warmest – and driest – year on record.

Prof Tim Osborn, Director of Research at the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit, said: "While we know that human activities are causing the globe to warm, it is important to measure this warming as accurately as possible.

“We are confident that the world has warmed by about 1.0°C since the late nineteenth century because different methods of working out the global temperature give very similar results."

The scientists expect 2020 to continue the recent trend of warmth.