The world is enduring the hottest year on record, according to a US national weather analysis, causing droughts worldwide. For the first six months of the year, 2010 has been warmer than the first half of 1998, the previous record holder, by 0.03 degree Fahrenheit, said Jay Lawrimore, chief of climate analysis at the federal National Climatic Data Center. Period of a El Nino weather pattern is being blamed for the hot temperatures globally. Abnormally warm temperatures have been registered in large parts of Canada, Africa, tropical oceans and parts of the Middle East. Northern Thailand is struggling through the worst drought in 20 years, while a part of the Middle East in the middle of the longest and most severe drought since 1920s. In Britain, this year has been the driest since 1929. Also, Arctic sea ice has melted to its thinnest state in June.
