Headline

Environmental records shattered as climate change 'plays out before us' – 2016 is highly likely to break the annual record again

A scientist leaps over water during a trip to the Greenland ice sheet, which saw melting over more than 50% of its surface last year. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Last year was the warmest on record, with the annual surface temperature beating the previous mark set in 2014 by 0.1C. This means that the world is now 1C warmer than it was in pre-industrial times, largely due to a huge escalation in the production of greenhouse gases. The UN has already said that 2016 is highly likely to break the annual record again, after 14 straight months of extreme heat aided by a hefty El Niño climatic event, a weather event that typically raises temperatures around the world