Hot, hot and hotter

With all the hubbub over the WikiLeaks documents dominating the media, the conference on climate change presently underway in Cancun - the follow-on from the failed Copenhagen conference a year ago - is going almost unreported.

The documents being released by WikiLeaks may have their repercussions, but what about the world we live in? Our planet? The Independent reports in "Around World, Thermometers Point to 2010 Being Hottest Year Yet" on the latest Report on the world we live in.

"Global average temperatures recorded up to the end of October show that in two of the three data sets used, which are American, 2010 has been clearly the hottest year ever, while in the third set, which is British, it is running equal with the previous hottest year on record, 1998.

It is possible the position might change when the final figures for November and December have been factored in, although analysis has already shown that November temperatures for the world were running at "near record levels", the WMO said.

Releasing the figures at the UN Climate Conference in Cancun, Mexico, the WMO said the global combined sea surface and land surface air temperature for 2010 (January-October) "is currently estimated at 0.55C (0.99F) above the 1961-1990 annual average of 14C (57.2F)".

It added: "At present, 2010's nominal value is the highest on record, just ahead of 1998 (January-October anomaly 0.53C) and 2005 (0.52C)."

The WMO's official judgement is cautious, saying merely that "the year 2010 is almost certain to rank in the top three warmest years since the beginning of instrumental climate records in 1850."

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Mahler's Prodigal Son

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