The UN weather agency said last year was the fifth warmest on record.
The World Meteorological Organization said analysis of the final two months of 2009 confirm a forecast made in December that ranked last year among the warmest since 1850.
The Geneva-based agency said land temperatures in 2009 were 0.34 to 0.56 degrees Celsius higher than the 1961-1990 average it uses for comparison.
WMO also confirmed Tuesday that the decade 2000-2009 was the warmest since records began.
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