World records its second warmest year

Meteorologists revealed yesterday that the world had measured its second warmest year since records began more than 140 years ago.

Researchers from the Met Office blamed industrial and agricultural pollution for a "remarkable" 0.49 degree rise in 2002 above the average between 1961 and 1990.

World maps of temperatures for the past 12 months show above-average figures in most regions, especially Eurasia.

Forecasters said there was a 50 per cent chance that temperatures would rise again in 2003 because of the more pronounced effect of El Niño, which sweeps warm water currents across the Pacific Ocean and boosts rainfall.

The highest global temperature was recorded in 1998 during the latter stages of El Niño activity in the eastern equatorial Pacific. Phil Jones of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, said: "The warmth of 2002 is remarkable considering how small this effect was during much of the year compared to the influence of the large 1997-98 El Niño event in the record-breaking year of 1998. Given that a moderate El Niño event is taking place, there is a good chance 2003 will be warmer than 2002."

Average global temperatures have risen by more than 0.6 degrees since 1860, and scientists blame warming over the past 50 years on human activity such as burning fossil fuels.

Global warming is expected to cause a rise in sea levels due to the thermal expansion of the oceans, melting glaciers and a disturbance of weather patterns leading in Britain to drier summers and wetter winters.

Figures released by the Met Office also show that this year has been one of the warmest years in Britain since the country began keeping records in 1659. This is mainly because January to April was extremely mild, with maximum temperatures in February the second warmest on record. The mean central England temperature so far this year is 10.5C (60F).

David Parker, a Met Office climate scientist, said: "Five of the six warmest years since 1659 have occurred since 1990."