SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
2015 Officially the Hottest Year on Record
"It's getting to the point where breaking record is the norm."
Jan 20, 2016
The final tally is in: 2015 was the hottest year in recorded history--by a record-breaking margin.
On Wednesday, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the official record for last year's runaway temperatures, which by NOAA's calculation hit an average of 58.62 degrees Fahrenheit (14.79 degrees Celsius).
That's 1.62 (F) degrees hotter than any average year in the 20th century.
And according to NASA, which measures differently, temperatures in 2015 jumped .23 (F) degrees just from the previous year.
"It's getting to the point where breaking record is the norm," Texas Tech climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe told the Associated Press. "It's almost unusual when we're not breaking a record."
Scientists say the skyrocketing temperatures, which have unleashed climate change, are also fueled by extreme weather events like El Nino.
"Records will happen during El Nino years due to the extra warming boost they provide," Dr. Michael Mann, a professor of atmospheric science at Pennsylvania State University, told the AP. "That boost of warmth however sits upon the ramp of global warming."
It also means that global populations under 38 years old have lived their entire lives in higher-than-average temperatures, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a scientific advisory organization. The group also said Wednesday's report underscored the need for prioritizing global policies that address climate change and prioritize renewable energy.
"The announcement doesn't come as a surprise, as month after month records were being broken all around the world," said UCS climate scientist Astrid Caldas. "It's significant that 2015 was hotter than the previous record by so much in both [NOAA and NASA's] calculations because it points to a strong warming trend that's been observed lately."
"This trend needs to be reversed if we're to keep global warming below 2degC, the goal of the international climate agreement struck in Paris and the number that scientists believe will avoid irreversible changes to Earth's systems," Caldas said. "This new record highlights how critical it was to get an agreement in Paris and the importance of countries not only following through on their commitments, but going further.
"A massive ramp-up of renewable- and low-carbon- energy will be essential to stay within 2degC of warming and avoid new records being set," Caldas said.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
The final tally is in: 2015 was the hottest year in recorded history--by a record-breaking margin.
On Wednesday, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the official record for last year's runaway temperatures, which by NOAA's calculation hit an average of 58.62 degrees Fahrenheit (14.79 degrees Celsius).
That's 1.62 (F) degrees hotter than any average year in the 20th century.
And according to NASA, which measures differently, temperatures in 2015 jumped .23 (F) degrees just from the previous year.
"It's getting to the point where breaking record is the norm," Texas Tech climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe told the Associated Press. "It's almost unusual when we're not breaking a record."
Scientists say the skyrocketing temperatures, which have unleashed climate change, are also fueled by extreme weather events like El Nino.
"Records will happen during El Nino years due to the extra warming boost they provide," Dr. Michael Mann, a professor of atmospheric science at Pennsylvania State University, told the AP. "That boost of warmth however sits upon the ramp of global warming."
It also means that global populations under 38 years old have lived their entire lives in higher-than-average temperatures, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a scientific advisory organization. The group also said Wednesday's report underscored the need for prioritizing global policies that address climate change and prioritize renewable energy.
"The announcement doesn't come as a surprise, as month after month records were being broken all around the world," said UCS climate scientist Astrid Caldas. "It's significant that 2015 was hotter than the previous record by so much in both [NOAA and NASA's] calculations because it points to a strong warming trend that's been observed lately."
"This trend needs to be reversed if we're to keep global warming below 2degC, the goal of the international climate agreement struck in Paris and the number that scientists believe will avoid irreversible changes to Earth's systems," Caldas said. "This new record highlights how critical it was to get an agreement in Paris and the importance of countries not only following through on their commitments, but going further.
"A massive ramp-up of renewable- and low-carbon- energy will be essential to stay within 2degC of warming and avoid new records being set," Caldas said.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
The final tally is in: 2015 was the hottest year in recorded history--by a record-breaking margin.
On Wednesday, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced the official record for last year's runaway temperatures, which by NOAA's calculation hit an average of 58.62 degrees Fahrenheit (14.79 degrees Celsius).
That's 1.62 (F) degrees hotter than any average year in the 20th century.
And according to NASA, which measures differently, temperatures in 2015 jumped .23 (F) degrees just from the previous year.
"It's getting to the point where breaking record is the norm," Texas Tech climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe told the Associated Press. "It's almost unusual when we're not breaking a record."
Scientists say the skyrocketing temperatures, which have unleashed climate change, are also fueled by extreme weather events like El Nino.
"Records will happen during El Nino years due to the extra warming boost they provide," Dr. Michael Mann, a professor of atmospheric science at Pennsylvania State University, told the AP. "That boost of warmth however sits upon the ramp of global warming."
It also means that global populations under 38 years old have lived their entire lives in higher-than-average temperatures, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), a scientific advisory organization. The group also said Wednesday's report underscored the need for prioritizing global policies that address climate change and prioritize renewable energy.
"The announcement doesn't come as a surprise, as month after month records were being broken all around the world," said UCS climate scientist Astrid Caldas. "It's significant that 2015 was hotter than the previous record by so much in both [NOAA and NASA's] calculations because it points to a strong warming trend that's been observed lately."
"This trend needs to be reversed if we're to keep global warming below 2degC, the goal of the international climate agreement struck in Paris and the number that scientists believe will avoid irreversible changes to Earth's systems," Caldas said. "This new record highlights how critical it was to get an agreement in Paris and the importance of countries not only following through on their commitments, but going further.
"A massive ramp-up of renewable- and low-carbon- energy will be essential to stay within 2degC of warming and avoid new records being set," Caldas said.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.