"A contributing factor to the unusually warm temperatures throughout 2006 also is the long-term warming trend, which has been linked to increases in greenhouse gases," the report adds. "This has made warmer-than-average conditions more common in the U.S. and other parts of the world."
Just how much each factor contributed to 2006's record temperatures is still unclear, the report says.
But the combination of El Niño and greenhouse gas buildup may heat things up for a while yet.
A forecast by climate scientists at the U.K. Met Office's Hadley Centre for Climate Change predicts that those conditions will combine to make 2007 the warmest year on record.
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