2015 was the Hottest Year on World Record, Says NASA and NOAA
Because of the strong El Nino influence at the beginning of this year, “2016 is expected to be an exceptionally warm year and perhaps even another record”, he told reporters.
“During 2015, the average temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.62 deg F (0.9 deg C) above the 20th-century average”, said the NOAA report.
A report from New York Times revealed that hitting the highest all-time temperature has been expected by scientists in 2015, largely because of the onslaught of one of the biggest El Niño droughts in a hundred years. “Last year’s temperatures had an assist from El Nino, but it is the cumulative effect of the long-term trend that has resulted in the record warming that we are seeing”. “It’s not unprecedented to have two years in a row of record-breaking temperatures, but in our records, we’ve never had three years in a row”, Schmidt told Deborah Netburn at the Los Angeles Times.
United States space agency Nasa, which monitors global climate using a fleet of satellites and weather stations, confirmed that previous year broke records for heat in contemporary times.
“During the final month, the December combined global land and ocean average surface temperature departure from average was the highest on record for any month in the 136-year record”, NOAA’s release said.
2015 was a record-shattering year in many ways, one of which is the year’s jarring temperature as the hottest 365 days in historical record.
Non-scientists who reject mainstream climate science often criticize NOAA for adjustments to past temperature records to reconcile the measurement devices with modern techniques, but even without any adjustments NOAA data shows 2015 as the hottest year on record, Karl said.
The study also looked into natural phenomena such as El Niño or La Niña, which warm or cool the tropical Pacific Ocean, and can contribute to short-term variations in global average temperature.
That was followed by the warmest fall on record in much of central Canada, as it finally caught up with the western half of the country.
“This trend will continue; it will continue because we understand why it’s happening”, Schmidt said.
“Climate change is the challenge of our generation, and NASA’s vital work on this important issue affects every person on Earth”, said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.