If you were thinking that last winter’s long cold spell indicated that global warming was a thing of the past, the annual “State of the Climate” report, produced with the help of the UK’s Met Office, will make you think again. The report states that the world is “unequivocally warming” after considering the temperature of the oceans, which absorb 90% of the world’s heat, alongside the latest data on melting sea ice (this summer has seen particularly rapid retreat of the Arctic sea ice), retreating glaciers and the temperature of the upper atmosphere.

The authors of the report say that the world has been warming for three decades. Despite the cold winter in the UK, globally this year is set to be the hottest on record. The report warns “People have spent thousands of years building a society for one climate and now a new one is being created – one thats warmer and more extreme.”

You can access the full report via this link

You can also see how the amount of global sea ice is changing day on day at this site produced by the University of Colorado and supported by satellite information provided by NASA.