This year was the Earth's sixth warmest on record, the World Meteorological Organization in Geneva said, averaging 0.4 degrees C above the 1961-90 average.

Preliminary figures for the Status of the Global Climate in 2006 reported that global temperatures rose by 0.7 degrees C since 1900, the WMO said.

Extreme weather events touched all parts of the globe in 2006, the WMO report said. The United States had its warmest January-September period on record, while July in Europe was a record-setter. Brazil and Australia reported heat waves between January and March.

Africa wasn't spared. After suffering its worst drought in 10 years, Somalia experienced its worst flooding in recent memory, WMO said. The Sahara desert had heavy rainfall in February, which damaged 70 percent of food production and displaced 600,000 people.

In China, drought damaged millions of acres of crops. The country also suffered its worst tropical cyclone season in a decade in which storms killed more than 1,000 people and cost more than $10 billion in economic losses.

Researchers said Arctic ice continues to melt at a fast rate. The WMO estimated that sea ice is declining by 8.6 percent every decade.