2017 was hottest year without an El Nino event

Last year was the second or third warmest on record behind 2016, and the hottest without an extra dose of heat caused by an El Niño event in the Pacific Ocean, the United Nations said on Thursday.

Average surface temperatures in 2017 were 1.1 degree Celsius (2.0 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times, creeping towards 1.5C (2.7F), the most ambitious limit for global warming set by almost 200 nations under the 2015 Paris climate agreement. The agreement has been weakened by a plan by U.S. President Donald Trump, who doubts mainstream scientific findings that warming is driven by man-made greenhouse gases, to pull out.
The U.N’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said 2017 was indistinguishable from 2015 as the second or third warmest year behind 2016, and made 2017 “the warmest year without an El Niño” in records dating back to the late 19th century.

Temperatures in both 2016 and 2015 were lifted by an El Niño, a natural event which can disrupt weather patterns worldwide every few years and releases heat from the tropical Pacific Ocean into the atmosphere.
The WMO said 17 of the warmest 18 years since records began in the 19th century have now happened since 2000, confirming a warming trend driven by …read more