First Half of the Year Second-Warmest Ever

The first six months of the year have been the second-warmest ever, and average global temperatures in 2002 could be the highest ever recorded, according to British weather experts. . The British Meteorological Office said global temperatures were 1.03 degrees higher than the long-term average of about 59 degrees in the period from January to June. In the nearly 150 years since recording began, only in 1998 has the difference been higher, 1.08 degrees, and that was caused by the influence of the El Nino weather phenomenon.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the body that advises governments on long-term climatic variations, blames global warming, caused by rising emissions of greenhouse gases that trap heat in the atmosphere, for the rise in temperatures.