Global Warming: Average Temperature Records to be Shattered for the Next 2 Years

It looks like global warming is going to pick up over the next two years. A new report reveals that manmade climate change will produce exceptionally high average temperatures this year and the next, boosted by natural weather phenomena, such as El Niño.

"It looks very likely that globally 2014, 2015 and 2016 will be amongst the very warmest years ever recorded," said Rowan Sutton, one of the researchers, in an interview with Phys.org. "This is not a fluke. We are seeing the effects of energy steadily accumulating in the Earth's oceans and atmosphere, caused by greenhouse gas emissions."

The new report shows that a major El Niño even is currently in play in the Pacific, which is expected to heat the world overall. This, in combination with normal global warming caused by greenhouse gases, will cause Earth to heat up quite a bit.

In fact, in 2015 the Earth's average surface temperature is running at or near record levels. The UK Met Office has also announced that 2016 will be even warmer, bringing the rise in temperatures to about .2 degrees Celsius for the decade.

"We know that natural patterns contribute to global temperature in any given year, but very warm temperatures so far this year indicate the continued impact of increasing greenhouse gases, said Stephen Belcher, director of the Met office Hadley Centre, in an interview with Phys.org.

This latest report highlights the importance of taking steps to mitigate warming temperatures. If not, then we may be faced with extremely warm temperatures and global climate change in future years.

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