23 October 2015: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has announced that 2015 will most likely be the hottest year on record. According to the Global Climate Report from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the world just experienced the hottest January-September on record, as well as the hottest September on record. WMO’s provisional Statement on the Status of Global Climate for 2015 will be released in November 2015 in advance of and to inform discussions at the Paris Climate Change Conference. WMO will also release a summary of the global climate from 2011-2015.

In addition to these announcements, WMO also reports that the 2015 globally averaged air temperature and sea surface temperature for September exhibited the greatest rise above average for any month in the 136-year historical record, with combined global average temperature of air, land and ocean surface temperature .90°C above the 20th century average.

The year-to-date globally averaged combined temperature was .85°C above the 20th century average, surpassing the previous record set in 2014. Much of South America and parts of Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia experienced record-level warmth.

On top of record warmth, the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Eastern North Pacific and Atlantic regions struck southwestern Mexico between Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo on 23 October 2015, according to the WMO. Mexican authorities declared a state of emergency in areas affected by Category Five Hurricane Patricia, which was comparable to the peak strength of Typhoon Haiyan, which devastated the Philippines in November 2013. [WMO Press Release on Hottest Year] [WMO Press Release on Hurricane Patricia]