Last year was the fourth warmest on record, extending a scorching streak driven by a build-up of man-made greenhouse gases, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service said on Monday.
Average world surface air temperatures were 14.7 Celsius (58.5 Fahrenheit) in 2018, just 0.2 C off the highest, it said in the first global assessment based on full-year data. This year will also likely be hot, its scientists said.
"Dramatic climatic events like the warm and dry summer in large parts of Europe or the increasing temperature around the Arctic regions are alarming signs to all of us," said Jean-Noel Thepaut, head of Copernicus.