Wednesday, January 27, 2016

2015 Declared the Warmest year since 1880

2015 has been declared as the hottest year since modern record keeping began in 1880. After 135 years of measurements, the last year has reported an increase in temperatures, but the main problem is that 2016 will be even warmer, according to independent analysis by NASA and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Globally-averaged temperatures in 2015 were 0.25 degrees Fahrenheit (0.13 Celsius) higher than the last mark in 2014, the next-warmest year on record, according to NOAA. Moreover, the planet´s average surface temperature has presented and increase of about 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit (1.0 degree Celsius) since the end of 19th century, this is due to an increment in levels of carbon dioxide and other gas emission to the atmosphere.

Phenomena such as El niño or La Niña, can have an impact in variations in global average temperature, by the immense amount of heat from the Pacific Ocean, as occurs in 2015. Satellite and balloon records in atmosphere showed less warming owing to a delayed response to El niño, but it is expected to show a faster increment in 2016, continuing to boost the average global temperature by the next several months, resulting in the possibility in a new record heat for the present year.

El niño pattern is also disturbing the circulation of the atmosphere, contributing to worldwide weather extremes that include a drought in southern Africa.

“Even without an El Niño, this would have been the warmest year on record,” said Prof Gavin Schmidt, director at Nasa’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. He said he expect the increment in temperature will continue because of human emissions.

There are uncertainties in the measurement due to the fewer measurement in the polar regions, but independent results from British scientists showed 2015 as the warmest year in a record dating to 1850. The Japan Meteorological Agency, another independent temperature record beginning in 1891, indicates 2015 was by far the hottest year.

Temperatures changes from 1880 to 2015 as a rolling five-year average.
 Credits: GSFC Scientific Visualization Studio