BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Advocate -The year 2012 was hot! In fact, it was ranked among one of the top 10 warmest years on record, says Omar Baddour, Climatologist with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). This, despite the cooling influence of La Niña early in the year. He recently indicated that extreme weather and climate events were also noted last year, such as Tropical Storm Sandy which hit the United States and the Caribbean. The 2012 global land and ocean surface temperature during January–December 2012 was estimated to be 0.45°C (±0.11°C) above the 1961–1990 average of 14.0°C. This is the ninth warmest year since records began in 1850 and the 27th consecutive year that the global land and ocean temperatures were above the 1961–1990 average, according to Baddour.