The average global temperature for 2008 was slightly lower than any other year since 2000, due partly to La Nina, according to the WMO.
The average global temperature for 2008 was slightly lower than any other year since 2000, due partly to La Nina, according to the WMO. |
La Nina is produced by cooler surface water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean and, like its Pacific sibling El Nino, is credited with upsetting climate patterns around the world.
"As these conditions weaken, the outlook for March-May 2009 is for 'neutral' conditions to be the most likely outcome," the UN's weather agency said in a statement.
However, forecasts for the remainder of this year were "very uncertain" at the moment, the statement added.
The average global temperature for 2008 was slightly lower than any other year since 2000, due partly to La Nina, according to the WMO.
In December, "unusually cold" sea-surface temperatures, or over 0.5 degrees Celsius (32.9 degrees Fahrenheit) below normal temperatures, were recorded in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific.
In 2007, the WMO linked the La Nina climate pattern to a long-running drought in Australia.
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