World Temperatures Set Record

Last year was Earth’s hottest year on record, said a U.N. report issued Tuesday.

The World Meteorological Organization’s “Statement on the Status of the Global Climate 1995” collates data from dozens of weather and monitoring stations around the world to form a climate snapshot.

According to the report, the estimated global mean surface temperature over land and sea in 1995 was the highest since records were first kept in 1861. The average surface temperature was 0.72 degrees Fahrenheit above the 1961-90 average.

Large parts of Siberia reported temperatures 5.4 degrees above average, and many heat-related deaths occurred in India and the Midwestern United States. Some West European countries experienced record or near-record summers.

There were nevertheless some anomalies. The snow cover in the Northern Hemisphere varied from near-average to average. Some areas, including Greenland and parts of the Pacific, were cooler than normal.