2021 was Earth's 5th-hottest year on record, according to European Union scientists

Last year was the world’s fifth hottest on record, while levels of planet-warming carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere hit new highs in 2021, European Union scientists said.

The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a report on Monday that the last seven years were the world’s warmest “by a clear margin” in records dating back to 1850, and the average global temperature in 2021 was 1.1-1.2 C above 1850-1900 levels.

The hottest years on record were 2020 and 2016.

Under the 2015 Paris Agreement, countries committed to try to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 C, the level