This year will go down in history as the warmest year on record, beating out 2014 for the dubious distinction. That fact alone is striking, considering the sped-up pace of global warming in recent years. However, it’s the margin by which this year is beating out all others that is most impressive.
On Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a chart that illustrates how far ahead 2015 is compared to the six other warmest years on record. The chart essentially shows that there’s no contest — 2015 is running away with the title, propelled by a one-two punch of manmade global warming and a strong El Niño event in the tropical Pacific Ocean:
Global average surface temperatures for the year-to-date compared to the six other warmest years-to-date (Image: NOAA/NCEI)
The new chart was released at the same time as data showing that November was the warmest such month in NOAA’s database, which extends back to 1880. The November global average temperature, averaged over the land and ocean using a variety of temperature sensors, from buoys to climate sites scattered around the world, was an astonishing 1.75 degrees Fahrenheit, or 0.97 degrees Celsius, above the 20th century average. This beat November 2013 by 0.27 degrees Fahrenheit, or 0.15 degrees Celsius.
November 2015 also became the seventh straight warmest month on record. The amount by which the monthly average temperature exceeded the typical reading was the second-highest temperature departure from average of any month on record.
Read more: Mashable.com