This year is "virtually certain" to be the warmest in 125,000 years, European Union scientists said on Wednesday, after data showed last month was the world's hottest October in that period.
Intense heat has stifled the globe this year, contributing to a record-breaking hot summer in the Northern Hemisphere and an unusually warm winter in the Southern Hemisphere.
Temperatures are expected to soar further across large parts of the world after the El Niño weather pattern emerged in the tropical Pacific for the first time in seven years.
