On August 2, NOAA announced the release of the 2015 State of the Climate Report, an international, peer-reviewed publication developed by more than 450 scientists from 62 countries around the world. The 26th annual report confirmed that last year was the warmest on earth since comprehensive recordkeeping began in the mid-19th century.
“This annual physical of Earth’s climate system showed us that 2015’s climate was shaped both by long-term change and an El Niño event,” said Thomas R. Karl, L.H.D., Director, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, at a press event. The El Niño event resulted in a record number of tropical cyclones in the Pacific and a general increase in precipitation variability worldwide, from major flooding to severe drought.
In 2015, several new records of global climate indicators were set, surpassing former highs reached just last year. These include: greenhouse gas concentrations, surface temperatures, sea surface temperature, ocean heat storage, and sea level rise. Explanations of the relevance of these trends, NOAA media briefing slides and visualizations of several report highlights are also available online.