It is likely that La Nina would continue into the summer, depressing temperatures globally by a fraction of a degree, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)'s Secretary General MichelJarraud said, according to a report by the BBC Friday.

    However, Jarraud insisted that 2008 temperatures would still be well above the average for the century.

    "When you look at climate change you should not look at any particular year. You should look at trends over a pretty long period and the trend of temperature globally is still very much indicative of warming.

    "La Nina is part of what we call 'variability'. There has always been and there will always be cooler and warmer years, but what is important for climate change is that the trend is up; the climate on average is warming even if there is a temporary cooling because of La Nina," he was quoted as saying.

    The WMO pointed out that the decade from 1998 to 2007 was the warmest on record. Since the beginning of the 20th Century, the global average surface temperature has risen by 0.74 degrees Celsius.

    La Nina and El Nino are two great natural Pacific currents. El Nino warms the planet while La Nina cools it.

    This year, the Pacific is in the grip of a powerful La Nina. It has contributed to torrential rains in Australia and to some of the coldest temperatures in memory in snow-bound parts of China.     (Apr.7)

Editor: Xu Hui