2016 was the hottest year on record – that is according to data compiled by NASA and the World Meteorological Organisation, Euronews reports.
It is the third year in a row that temperatures have hit a record high creeping closer to a ceiling set by the 2015 Paris climate change deal.
Average global surface temperatures in 2016 were 0.83 degree Celsius above a long-term average of 14 degrees Celsius from 1961-1990, according to the UN -affiliated World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) based in Geneva
Scientists say the El Niño weather phenomenon played a role, but the main factor was human emissions of CO2.
The NASA findings were announced by environmentalist and former US Vice President Al Gore at the World Economic Forum in Davos.