What is shocking, however, is how thoroughly 2015 trounced the previous record set by 2014.
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For the last 12 months the average surface temperature across the globe was 58.47 Fahrenheit, a 0.23-degree increase from 2014’s record-breaking average temperature of 58.24, the two agencies reported.
The report added that since 1997, which at the time was the hottest year on record, 16 of the following 18 years have each been warmer than that year.
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.
The 2015 data underscores the urgency of cutting greenhouse gas emissions if the world is to hold temperature increases to well below 2 degrees C, the target agreed to by more than 190 countries at climate talks in Paris last December.
The study will raise fresh concerns about the accelerating pace of global warming. “The answer is no. That was true before a year ago, but it’s much more obvious now”.
The first detailed global temperature measurements were recorded in 1880. Asia and South America experienced their warmest years since 1910 when those records began.
NOAA has tracked Earth’s temperature since 1880.
Without major action on climate change worldwide, the trend will continue in the coming decades, meaning more droughts in California and the Heartlands, more megastorms, more flooding, and all around more ecological disasters.
One factor that has pushed global temperatures higher is the strong El Nino occurring since March of 2015. “But El Nino pushed it way over the top”, Karl said.
Speaking to Doha News, Abdulla Al Mannai, head of forecasting and analysis at the Qatar Meteorology Department (MET), said temperature averages for some days were higher than usual. NASA scientists and others said there’s a good chance that 2016 will pass 2015 as the hottest year on record, thanks to El Niño.
NASA and NOAA independently track temperatures at thousands of weather stations on land and water, from buoys in tropical seas to field equipment at the Earth’s poles, and each analyzes the differences over time.
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Professor Donald Wuebbels from the University of Illinois’ Department of Atmospheric Sciences thinks past year was notable for the direction of the heat’s flow.
