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Global warming triggered by anthropogenic activities and a natural surge in Earth’s surface temperatures will make the next four years exceptionally hot, says a study. The unusually hot weather will primarily be because of the natural variability of Earth’s climate rather than global warming alone, said Dr Florian Sevellec, a physical oceanographer with the University of Brest in France and the main author of the study that appeared in the journal Nature Communications. The likely increase due to the natural variability of Earth’s climate alone — that is, the variability that is not associated with long-term global warming — is +0.02°C for 2018, +0.03°C for 2018-19, and +0.01°C for 2018-22, says Dr Sevellec.