According to WMO(*) Annual Statement on the Global Climate
Geneva, Thursday, 17 December -- The earth's global temperature in 1998 will be the highest since 1860, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The global mean surface temperature is estimated to be 0.58 oC above the recent long-term average based on the period 1961-1990. As we approach the end of the century, global temperatures are almost 0.7 oC above those at the end of the 19th century.

It will be the 20th consecutive year with an above normal global surface temperature. The ten warmest years