Record average temperatures highlight the urgent need to agree to a global deal on carbon emissions.
The world is on course for the hottest year ever in 2014, heightening the sense of urgency around climate change negotiations. Preliminary estimates from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) found global average land and sea surface temperatures for the first 10 months of 2014 had soared higher than ever recorded. The findings – broadly in line with those of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other scientific agencies – indicate that by year-end, 2014 will break all previous high temperature records.