Researchers say this year is 10th warmest on record

THIS year is set to be the tenth warmest on record despite weather patterns which cool global temperatures, meteorologists said.

Climate researchers in the UK said 2011 was near the top of records dating back to 1850 despite a “strong and persistent” La Nina weather system in the Pacific, which tends to lead to lower temperatures across the world.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), which released the figures as countries meet at Durban in South Africa for the latest United Nations talks on agreeing a deal to tackle climate change, said 2011 was the warmest on record for a La Nina year.

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The WMO, which bases its figures on three independent data sets from the UK and the US, put the global average temperature at 0.41C higher than the 1961-to-1990 average of 14C, making it the 10th warmest on record.

According to the Geneva, Switzerland-based WMO, the 13 warmest years on record have all occurred in the 15 years between 1997 and 2011.