The year 2013 is believed to be the sixth hottest on record, continuing the Earth's warming trend.
The study provided a "snapshot of regional and national temperatures and extreme events," and outlined changes in ice cover, a World Meteorological Organization (WMO) news release reported.
The report also factored in variations in "ocean warming, sea level rise and greenhouse gas concentration," the news release reported.
The researchers pointed out that 13 of the 14 warmest years on record have taken place during the 21st century, and the temperatures have been climbing every decade. In 2013 the average surface temperature of the planet was 58.1 degrees Fahrenheit; this is 0.90 degrees higher than the average between 1960 and 1991 as well as 0.05 degrees higher than the average between 2001 and 2010.
"Naturally occurring phenomena such as volcanic eruptions or El Niño and La Niña events have always contributed to frame our climate, influenced temperatures or caused disasters like droughts and floods. But many of the extreme events of 2013 were consistent with what we would expect as a result of human-induced climate change. We saw heavier precipitation, more intense heat, and more damage from storm surges and coastal flooding as a result of sea level rise - as Typhoon Haiyan so tragically demonstrated in the Philippines," WMO Secretary-General, Mr Michel Jarraud said in the news release. In 2013 Australia had its hottest year on record and Argentina had its second hottest.
"Weather forecasting, including of storms and other hazards, has become much more [skillful] in recent years. As demonstrated in October by Cyclone Phailin, the second strongest tropical cyclone to strike India since modern records began, improved forecasting, combined with government action to build national resilience and provide shelters, greatly reduces the loss of life. We must continue strengthening preparedness and early warning systems and implementing a multi-hazard approach to disaster risk reduction," Jarraud said.
The researchers on the team looked at nine "state of the art" climate models to see whether the extremely hot temperatures in Australian were related to man-made influences.
"Comparing climate model simulations with and without human factors shows that the record hot Australian summer of 2012/13 was about five times as likely as a result of human-induced influence on climate and that the record hot calendar year of 2013 would have been virtually impossible without human contributions of heat-trapping gases, illustrating that some extreme events are becoming much more likely due to climate change," the study stated, the news release reported.
