Earth Sets Hottest Year Record For The Third Time In A Row

MANDATORY CREDIT: Paul Goldstein/Exodus/Rex Features. IMAGES OUTSIDE OF PRINT VERSION NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTIONS. FEES APPLY FOR UNIQUE IPAD USE. Only for use in story about Paul Goldstein/Exodus's work.Melting ice caps... MANDATORY CREDIT: Paul Goldstein/Exodus/Rex Features. IMAGES OUTSIDE OF PRINT VERSION NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIPTIONS. FEES APPLY FOR UNIQUE IPAD USE. Only for use in story about Paul Goldstein/Exodus's work.Melting ice caps in Spitsbergen Bearly Believable: Photographer Captures Adborable Images Of Polar Bear Cubs Playing A photographer has captured adorable images of polar bear cubs playing in the snow. As part of his tour for Exodus Travels, Paul Goldstein ventured to Spitsbergen in the north of Norway last week (19 June). The Wimbledon-based photographer and travel guide trawled through the sea ice in the north of Spitsbergen showing visitors the breath-taking icy scenery. However, Paul was shocked when one of his hawk-eyed crew spotted a mother polar bear in the distance. The sight of the polar bear came as a pleasant surprise to everyone on board. Climate change is currently the biggest threat to the survival of Polar bears; they are now officially classed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The photographer and tour guide explained that the start of 2014 was also much warmer than usual, resulting in ice melting at a quicker rate, making it even harder for the polar bears to feed. The Icy habitat is something which the animals depend on to hunt and breed; and the phenomenon of global warming has been well documented around Spitsbergen. The polar bears are capable of swimming up to 100 miles to find food, however ice sheets are slowly melting farther and farther apart. This means that some of them are swimming dangerously long distances for nothing, and polar bear populations are noticeably decreasing because of global warming. This made Paul's photos of the healthy bears even more of a spectacular sight. Keen to get a better view of the mother ... For more information visit http://www.rexfeatures.com/stacklink/BQKWVGDRL (Rex Features via AP Images) MORE LESS
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Government scientists say the Earth sizzled to a third straight heat record last year.

They mostly blame man-made global warming with help from a natural El Nino, which has since disappeared.

The figures announced Wednesday come from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which measure global temperatures in slightly different ways. They said last year passed 2015 as the hottest year on record.

NOAA calculated that the average global temperature last year was 58.69 degrees (14.84 degrees Celsius) — beating the previous year by .07 degrees (.04 Celsius).

NASA’s figures include more of the Arctic, which was warmer than usual. The agency said last year was .22 degrees (.12 degrees Celsius) warmer than 2015.

NASA’s Gavin Schmidt said most of the record heat was from man-made climate change.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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