The year 2013 is on course to rank among the 10 warmest years since modern records began in 1850, according to a report released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Wednesday in Geneva.

The provisional annual statement on the state of the global climate shows the first nine months of 2013 tied with 2003 as the seventh warmest such period on record, with a land and ocean surface temperature about 0.48 celsius degrees above the 1961-1990 average.

During the first nine months of 2013, most of the world's land areas had above-average temperatures, it said.

In contrast with 2012, when the United States, in particular, observed record high annual temperatures, the heat in 2013 was most extreme in Australia.

On January 7, a new national area-averaged daily maximum temperature of 40.3 degrees was set, and Moomba in the state of South Australia, reached 49.6 degrees. Warmer-than-average temperatures continued through the year and the country recorded its all-time warmest 12-month period from November 2012 to October 2013.

Along with extreme heat, most of Australia had drier-than-average conditions throughout the year. New Zealand was also suffering its worst drought in decades by early 2013, with little significant rainfall in northern and eastern parts of the country.

In Asia, Japan had its hottest summer on record. China recorded its warmest August on record, tied with 2006. South Korea observed its fourth warmest July and warmest August, contributing to a record-high summer temperature.

"Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases reached new highs in 2012, and we expect them to reach unprecedented levels yet again in 2013. This means that we are committed to a warmer future," WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said.

The report also said extreme precipitation in Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Switzerland caused the most intense and extended flooding in late May and early June in the Danube and Elbe river catchments since at least 1950.

Meanwhile, the southern African countries of Angola and Namibia were gripped by one of the worst droughts in the past 30 years.

The report confirmed global sea levels reached a record high. Sea levels have been rising at an average rate of about 3.2 millimeters per year, despite inter-annual variation, since satellite altimeter measurements began in 1993.

"Sea levels will continue to rise because of melting ice caps and glaciers. More than 90 percent of the extra heat we are generating from greenhouse gas is absorbed by the oceans, which will consequently continue to warm and expand for hundreds of years," Jarraud said.

The Arctic sea ice recovered slightly after the dramatic and unprecedented melt in 2012, but 2013 still saw one of the lowest levels on record, according to the report.

The extent of the Arctic sea ice reached its annual maximum on March 15 at 15.13 million square kilometers and minimum on Sept. 13 at 5.10 million square kilometers, the sixth smallest on record.

As of early November, global tropical cyclone activity for 2013 was closing in on the 1981-2010 average of 89 storms, with a total of 86 storms in the year to date, according to the report.

As of early November, the Western North Pacific typhoon season recorded 30 storms, including 13 typhoons, above the 1981-2010 average of 26.

Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most intense tropical cyclones ever to make landfall and the most powerful cyclone of the year, cut a devastating trail through the Philippines and severely affected Vietnam.

The provisional statement was also presented to negotiators at the 19th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in the Polish capital of Warsaw, the WMO said.

Final updates and figures for 2013 will be published in March 2014.

(Xinhua News Agency November 13, 2013)