By Tom Miles, Reuters

This year will be the hottest on record and 2016 could be even hotter due to the El Niño weather pattern, the World Meteorological Organization said on Wednesday, warning that inaction on climate change could see global average temperatures rise by 6 degrees Celsius or more.

WMO director-general Michel Jarraud said it was still possible for a global climate summit starting in Paris on Monday to agree steps to could keep the rise within 3.6 Fahrenheit)over pre-industrial times, a target set down in 2010 to try to prevent a dramatic increase in extreme weather.

“But the more we wait for action, the more difficult it will be,” he told a news conference.

Read the whole story