Resource detail

In 2015, the Earth sweltered under the hottest temperatures in modern times for the third year in a row, U.S. scientists said on 18 January 2017, raising new concerns about the quickening pace of climate change. Temperatures spiked to new national highs in parts of India, Kuwait and Iran, while sea ice melted faster than ever in the fragile Arctic, said the report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Taking a global average of the land and sea surface temperatures for the entire year, NOAA found the data for “2016 was the highest since record keeping began in 1880”, said the announcement. The global average temperature in 2015 was 1.69°Fahrenheit (0.94°C) above the 20th century average, and 0.07°F (0.04°C) warmer than in 2015, the last record-setting year, according to NOAA. A separate analysis by the U.S. space agency NASA also found that 2016 was the hottest on record.