Climate change makes past five-year period the warmest on record: WMO

UN weather body says man-made global warming and El Nino oceanic phenomenon made 2011-2015 the warmest five-year period on record

Climate change made 2011-2015 the warmest five-year period on record, according to the World Meteorological Organisation's (WMO) state of the global climate report.

This year is set to be the single hottest ever registered, with planetary temperatures passing the symbolic milestone of 1C above pre-industrial levels.

The WMO's stock-take attributes the sweltering conditions to a cocktail of man-made global warming and the effects of the El Nino oceanic phenomenon.

"The state of the global climate in 2015 will make history as for a number of reasons," the WMO's secretary-general, Michel Jarraud, told a press conference in Geneva. "2015 is likely to be the hottest year on record, with ocean surface temperatures at the highest level since measurements began. It is probable that the 1C Celsius threshold will be crossed. This is all bad news for the planet."