According to new estimates from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), in 2015 the country retained its newfound position as the world’s top producer of oil and gas. It's a position the U.S. has held for less than five years, having surged ahead of both Russia and Saudi Arabia thanks to fracking technology.

“U.S. petroleum and natural gas production first surpassed Russia in 2012, and the United States has been the world's top producer of natural gas since 2011 and the world's top producer of petroleum hydrocarbons since 2013,” the EIA reports.

Temperatures in the Middle East and North Africa could reach unbearably high levels that would make some regions uninhabitable and increase the pressures of climate refugees.

LONDON, 11 May, 2016 – Parts of the Middle East and North Africa could become unbearably hot if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise.

Click below for this visualization of the changes in global temperature over the past two centuries.

An illustration shows that 2015 was the hottest year since 1880. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

The global temperature in March has shattered a century-long record and by the greatest margin yet seen for any month.