Climate Change - A report on 2016 - yet another record-breaking year
The State of the Climate in 2016 report was released online on August 10th 2017 by the American Meteorological Society (AMS)
2016 was the warmest year in 137 years of record-keeping - the third year in a row of record-breaking temperatures.
The record resulted from the combined influence of long-term global warming and a strong El Niño early in the year.
Global average sea level rose to a new record high in 2016.
A general increase in the water cycle (the process of evaporating water into air and condensing it as rain or snow), combined with the strong El Niño, enhanced the variability of precipitation around the world.
For a fuller account, see the press release from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.