NASA, NOAA: 2015 Hottest Year on Record

“During the final month, the December combined global land and ocean average surface temperature was the highest on record for any month in the 136-year record”. According to the agencies, average global temperatures have increased 1.8 degrees F since the late 19th century and are 1.62 degrees F above the 20th century average.

The El Nino weather pattern is a natural cycle of warming in the Pacific Ocean that heats up the ocean surface in the region every two to seven years and has a wide-ranging impact on global temperatures. It is true that El Niño assisted the rise in global mean temperatures but even in its absence 2015 would be the hottest year ever.

However, this may have not been the case for Qatar, which saw record-breaking temperatures in 2015 but no overall jump, a local meteorologist told Doha News.

In the “Lower 48”, a very cold start to the year in the eastern parts of the country, including here in MI, was largely offset by winter warmth out west and widespread much warmer than average temperatures during the last three months of the year.

“Climate change is the challenge of our generation”, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said. Analysis on global warming is based on data gathered at over 6,000 weather stations as well as sea-going scientific vessels and devices installed on buoys.

Although this year’s El Niño shares some responsibility for the higher temperatures, NASA scientists state that 2015 temperatures are the result of a long-term trend. “Today’s announcement not only underscores how critical NASA’s Earth observation program is, it is also a key data point that should make policy makers stand up and take notice – now is the time to act on our climate”, he said.

Director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Gavin Schmidt, said the trend will only continue.

“Since 1997, which at the time was the warmest year on record, 16 of the subsequent 18 years have been warmer than that year”, said the NOAA report. Compared to the previous record year it was a quarter of a degree Fahrenheit, which may not sound like a lot, but usually when we set new records they’re incremental – hundredths of a degrees at a time.