Obama’s and Trudeau’s announcements come as the World Meteorological Organization says 2016 is on track to be the hottest year on record—in part due to “particularly high” temperatures in the Arctic.

Clare Nullis: “2016, it does remain on track to be the hottest year on record. 2015 was the hottest year on record. Before that, 2014 was the hottest year on record. And we think that 2016 will break even those records. Temperatures in the Arctic have been particularly high. Arctic sea ice was very, very low in the early part of the year, and it was the lowest on record in October and November. And indeed there were some days then when normally you see it refreezing, and in fact it wasn’t freezing at all. So it’s really quite extraordinary what we have been seeing in the Arctic.”