The heat record set in 2014 was shattered by the high temperatures in 2015, making last year the hottest year ever recorded, based on data going back to 1880, according to the NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Specifically, the year was 0.23 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than 2014, according to NASA. The measurement recorded by NOAA was slightly worse: 0.29 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than 2014. According to NOAA, 2015 was 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th century average.
NASA and NOAA both keep independent global surface temperature datasets, measuring temperatures over both the land and the oceans using thermometers, ocean buoys and ship readings. The datasets do not always agree perfectly, but they showed relatively little disagreement this year.
2015’s record heat — enhanced, especially in later months of the year, by a strong El Niño event that released warmth from the Pacific Ocean — was apparent long before the official declaration of the current record.
Every month in 2015 except for January and April was the hottest of that month on record globally, according to NOAA. In other words, September of 2015 was the hottest September in 136 years, as was October of 2015, November of 2015, and so on. (Wash Post, 1/20/2016)
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