Last year was hottest on record globally -US science agencies

Another reason for last year’s record-setting high temperature is the El Niño weather pattern, which is marked by shifting trade winds on the Pacific Ocean that warm ocean temperatures and cause dramatic weather changes. NASA, which used the same raw temperature data, but different methods to analyze Earth’s polar regions and global temperatures, calculated a slightly smaller figure of 0.23 degrees Fahrenheit – the largest yearly jump since 1998.

“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. Meteorologists from United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA have recently confirmed that Earth’s has reached the highest temperature on record previous year.

Even with last year’s El Niño push, it’s clear to both NASA and NOAA that the 2015 record was already on pace to continue the upward trajectory of long-term warming. “But with the record in now for 2015, 1988 is not even in the top 20 of warmest years”.

This was the fourth time a global temperature record has been set this century, the agencies said in a summary of their annual report on Wednesday.

The news is not exactly a surprise, given that climate scientists projected the year would claim this ominous title as early as last August, which was, if you’ll recall, the most sweltering month on record.

Past year was the hottest on earth since record-keeping began in 1880, scientists reported on Wednesday, continuing a steady long-term warming trend spurred by the burning of fossil fuels.

NASA climate experts revealed that the hottest years occurred from the beginning of the 21 century. NASA also calculated a temperature increase of 0.29 degrees over the previous year.

The short video illustrates the change in temperatures by using an orange coloured graphic which increases in density as the years go by.

The average temperature across the globe was 1.62F degrees above the 20th century average. The last time a global cold month record was set was December 1916 and the coldest year on record was 1911, according to NOAA. Satellite measurements, which scientists say don’t measure where we live and have a larger margin of error, calculate that past year was only the third hottest since 1979.