LAST year was the hottest year on record but as the town basked in rising temperatures, Swindon explorer David Hempleman-Adams has renewed his plea with politicians to curb the devastating effects of climate change before it is too late.

Sir David, who was recently bestowed with a knighthood in the Queen’s New Year’s Honour List, has witnessed first-hand the impact of global warming during a recent expedition to the Arctic.

Now, he wants politicians to bring climate change to the top of the national and global agenda after the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) revealed this week that the global average temperature in 2016 was 1.1C higher than pre-industrial levels and about 0.07C higher than the previous record set in 2015.

The 60-year-old said: “The thing with climate change is that the naysayer says there is going to be warmer years and colder years and they are quite right but these warmer years are becoming more common. The average temperature is going up and we’re seeing spikes that we’ve never seen before. They are becoming quite worrying and politicians just don’t seem to be grasping the nettle with it.

“We need to make fundamental changes now.”

Along with record temperatures, other long term indicators that show changes to the climate in 2016 included increased levels of greenhouse gases and melting ice.

Sir David added that following on from his his trip to circumnavigate the polar region by boat, his worries about the Arctic being the first ecosystem to show “devastating” signs of climate change were confirmed.

“The eco system there is very fragile,” he said.

“There needs to be a cross party solution and it should be looked at with the same importance as other matters. It is important to see the differences in temperatures from pre-industrial temperatures and climate change will affect everyone for the rest of their lives.”